


The Traveler

by WendelinTheWriter



Series: Hermione Granger and the Snapeverse [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Butch/Femme, F/F, Femslash, Genderbending, Marauders' Era, snanger but lesbian
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-04-07 03:43:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 46,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14072145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WendelinTheWriter/pseuds/WendelinTheWriter
Summary: After an accident with a stolen time turner, Hermione Granger found herself stranded in a very strange time, from a past that was not hers. Learning the differences and similarities turned out to be a very risky task, as she got herself far too involved with a central piece of the board, a woman familiar yet like none she ever met before...





	1. Prologue

Hermione’s heels clacking against the stone floor were the only sound in the empty Hogwarts’ halls. She was making her way towards the Headmaster’s office at a fast pace, not daring to hope for any good news. The Unspeakables at the Ministry were delicate, yet very clear about the chances of her returning home being slim to none.

Besides the fact she had gotten herself forever stranded, there were other factors weighing in on her overwhelming sense of despair. Having any hope at all, about anything, seemed foolish. She thought it couldn’t get any worse, only to find out it could, as soon as she climbed up the steps towards Dumbledore’s office.

He was not alone. A dark figure awaited, standing nearby a trunk, clad in dark robes, raven black hair falling straight down her back. Hermione’s sharp inhale of pure shock made the newcomer turn around, arms crossed.

“D-did you call me, Headmaster?” Hermione said, weakly.

“Will you please show our new faculty member the empty chambers in the dungeons?” Dumbledore said. “I’d do it myself, but I have other matters to tend to, and I take it that you had plenty of time to get acquainted with the castle’s perils.”

“Of course. I did.”

“Professor Snape will be our new—”

“Potions teacher.” Hermione blurted out, and then realized she technically had no way to know that. “He… _She_ ’s here because Slughorn retired, isn’t it?”

Well, that was another thing she wasn’t supposed to have a way of knowing. Dumbledore minutely raised a single brow over his reading glasses. Hermione showed up two weeks before. Slughorn had left the castle by then, already.

“I’m glad to see you had time to get yourself well-informed over Hogwarts’ matters. I find myself forgetting, at times.” he said. “Serena, this is Hermione Granger. She will be assisting Professor Vector in Arithmancy during this term and taking you to your new rooms here in the castle. Let us hope you will get along, otherwise you’ll be forced to befriend us old hags.”

Dumbledore returned to writing down something on a parchment, letting the two young women know the conversation was over. Hermione swallowed dry and took the lead out of the office.

“Funny.” said Snape, making the hairs on the back of Hermione’s neck stand up. The tone was the very same, even though the voice was feminine, a bit high-pitched, rather than deep. “You weren’t a student at Hogwarts, were you?”

“I’m from the Salem Witch Institute. I just graduated and wanted to see what it was like in other schools.” Hermione said the lie she rehearsed. “Since I grew up around London, I thought Hogwarts would be an interesting choice.”

See, the problem with her stolen time-turner breaking during a fight with the Death Eaters was that it didn’t take her to _her_ past. There were many, discreet details that were different. The more time Hermione spent stuck in that strange world, however, the more she grew to find the similarities were abundant.

Sure, Snape was a woman now, but even then, she wore the exact same black robes and had a long, hooked nose. The height and thin frame were the same, the voice, the demeanor, the way she moved.

And, Hermione was quite certain, she was, too, a Death Eater.

Voldemort existed, and so did the Order of the Phoenix and the Chosen One. Harry Potter was a year old, hiding somewhere with his parents. The Potters would be dead in two months if Hermione’s timeline of her past held up. She had no idea when, exactly, Snape started teaching at Hogwarts, but it made sense for Voldemort to put a spy inside Hogwarts at that height of the war.

Despite Voldemort having the upper hand, Hogwarts was still a safe sanctum.

“That is interesting. I didn’t know Hogwarts’ teachers could take apprentices.”

Serena made Hermione as nervous as Severus did, despite the fact whatever reasons Snape had to despise her, they didn’t exist yet. In fact, she was being rather chummy, in a way Hermione would never anticipate Severus to be.

Maybe it was the uncanny resemblance. It was hard to tell she was a woman at all, if you didn’t hear her talk and looked without paying proper attention. The men’s robes made a good job in hiding any hint of breasts — because they were made for people who didn’t have them. She was a strange woman, not pretty or beautiful in the common sense of the word, but impressive enough that it was impossible to peel the eyes away for her.

Well, not _strange_.

Just, very obviously, a lesbian.


	2. Chapter One

Hermione Granger arrived late for dinner. Unfortunately for her, the only spot left was right beside Serena, because all the teachers sat away from her like she had the plague. Except for Dumbledore. If Serena had the plague, Dumbledore caught it before she was even born.

The mysterious young lady sat down without much hesitation. Her hair was up in a bun and her right hand had splotches of ink.

“Good evening.” she said. “Sorry to be so late, I got caught up with some charts and lost track of time.”

“I’m glad that you joined us, Hermione.” Dumbledore said. “Although I’m not so sure you’ll be glad to eat a lukewarm dinner.”

Hermione smiled at the Headmaster’s quip and made herself a small plate, jittery to return to whatever she was up to beforehand. See, she was very easy to read, but trying to understand her thoughts and feelings was sometimes… Confusing.

For one, Serena made her nervous. Yet it didn’t seem to be because of the usual reason. By then, she was already used with people reacting badly to her in general. It didn’t matter anymore. The only thing that was missing from the full spectrum of bad reactions was to be in fact killed for her way of dressing or for her inclination towards women. What was a little nervousness?

Still, Hermione tried to smooth things over, and by the time she showed up for dinner, she seemed close to a normal state.

Secondly, she was lying about several things, but not _everything_. What kind of cover up she needed to protect whatever secret she had to hide that her name and age were genuine, yet not the school she went to? Why was Dumbledore offering her protection at Hogwarts?

Not to mention, Hermione was far too well-oriented for someone who had been on the castle for only two weeks, and her accent… Serena had the feeling it was not the first time Hermione came to Hogwarts. Considering how close they were in age, though, they would have seen each other around at least one time.

Dumbledore didn’t keep all his eggs in one basket, and Serena was fine with that — it was not like she was the safest basket to keep anything — but this secret was just dancing in front of her nose.

It was annoying.

If she didn’t know, then she was simply not supposed to know. Given Dumbledore’s point of introducing them to one another, he wanted Serena to keep an eye on Hermione. She was a terrible liar, couldn’t keep her mouth shut, and was going to get herself killed sooner or later for being so bad at keeping a cover.

OoOoO

Hermione found herself much more intrigued than afraid of Serena. After leaving the new Potions teacher, she went to her makeshift rooms and wrote down every single little thing she knew of Severus Snape, including observations on his behavior.

In the end, it turned out to be quite a lot. Upon reflecting about his behavior, _erratic_ was the only word to describe it. She would think that killing Dumbledore would settle the deal on where his loyalties lie, but, instead, Hermione found herself questioning the circumstances and manners in which that happened. Severus had stopped her and Luna from being caught in the middle of the fight in the Astronomy Tower, for one.

There were large missing gaps on his past. One of those things was when he started teaching at Hogwarts. For an eleven years old girl, all adults seemed to have the same age. Severus was obviously younger than most teachers, but Hermione never got around to realize he was a third or a fourth of most teacher’s ages. He had to be around thirty years old when Hermione first got into Hogwarts.

That would make Serena twenty and a little something, which seemed to be correct.

How much of Serena could apply to Severus? How much of Severus applied to Serena?

Hermione had to remind herself she was not sure about Serena being a Death Eater. The only thing she knew so far was that both Snapes looked alike and they became Potions teachers. That was it. The only woman Death Eater Hermione knew of was Bellatrix Lestrange — the women who supported Voldemort seemed to participate through her husbands.

Serena wasn’t going to do _that_.

Which made Hermione think long and hard about how alike Serena and Severus were. If Serena was a lesbian, then was Severus gay? Or were they similar in the sense they both liked women? Severus just didn’t seem to like anything or anyone. Of course, the interpretation was always wildly different if a man and a woman exhibited the same behavior.

It could be that Hermione was just assuming that Serena was a lesbian, too, though a woman who had a single ounce of care about what men thought of her would not dress and act like that.

In short, Hermione found herself curious about Serena and her life so far. Severus did kill Dumbledore, but, if Serena did the same, it would be a good couple of decades until then. Maybe filling in the gaps and trying to see what matched and what mismatched would help Hermione out in the task of figuring out what events would still happen.

Severus Snape, after all, was a central figure of the Second Wizardry War. Given what was happening, maybe he did have a finger on the first one, too.

It would also be useful when Hermione returned to her time and world, so…

Serena finished eating in utmost silence and was about to leave when Hermione said:

“Do you need help with setting up anything in your rooms?”

When Hermione dropped Serena off there, several boxes lied on the floor. Besides those, the chambers were empty. It seemed like a good excuse to get her alone and try to talk to her, if a little too shameless. Serena didn’t hate Hermione’s guts like Severus did — not _yet_ —, so maybe it would work.

She did raise a brow at the question and didn’t answer for a good moment.

“Well, why not. Are you done?”

“I am.” Hermione said, not being quite done yet, but not wanting to waste the opportunity. She took the last bite of her food and stood up to follow Serena into the dungeons. “So… I’ve been wanting to ask you a few questions.”

“I thought as much.” Serena remarked in the best Snape fashion, to then add: “What would you like to know?”

It wasn’t going bad at all. Then again, the circumstances were wildly different of the ones where she ever talked to the first Snape she got to meet.

“You look young. Like you’ve just graduated. I mean… How did you get around being a teacher so early? How old are you even?”

“I’m twenty-one, if you’ve been wondering. I have a Masters’ degree in Potions, though it is not necessary to have one to teach here. Neither it is necessary to be old and wrinkly.”

Hermione would have to write that down as soon as she got back to her own rooms. With that taken out of the way, there were other topics she wanted to touch on, however it was like tip toeing around a minefield. She didn’t want to press too much and end up with Serena’s antipathy, however she wanted to be fast with it, because soon the classes would start, and then neither of them would have time to talk.

And Serena, well, she wouldn’t even want to, anyway.

Still, Hermione didn’t want to think as if she was going to stay long-term, or even long enough to see the Potter’s death.

“And did you study here at Hogwarts?” Hermione asked, a couple of seconds before they reached Serena’s chambers.

She opened the door and gestured for Hermione to get inside first. Everything was furnished. Obviously. Serena had a _wand_.

“Since you’ll be here just to have a chat, would you like some tea?”

Was it a request Hermione was supposed to reject or not? Serena didn’t seem indisposed, which, all things considered, would probably be the best Hermione was going to get. She had caught up with the attempt of talking to her, and accepted it anyway, so that was good.

Right?

“Yes, please. Chamomile.”

Serena sat down on the small couch in front of the fireplace, and Hermione took it as an invitation to do the same. A set of tea appeared on top of the center table.

“I did graduate from Hogwarts.” Serena said.  

Hermione served herself a cup and blew the smoke of the piping hot tea away. She was about to say a question she could take a solid guess at what the answer would be.   

“And did you… did you like it here?”

Serena poured herself some tea and leaned back, legs crossed.

“You should probably ask questions you don’t know the answer to. Of course it was not pleasant to study here. Hogwarts is not a bad school academically, if you’re wondering. However, the teachers do a poor job at keeping the students under the control. They could, if they tried, except they are partial towards certain students, who can get away with anything, and I mean _anything_ , with a slap on the wrist, at the most, while others are overtly punished for minor offenses.”

Now _that_ sounded like the Snape Hermione knew. Severus had been almost killed, choked with soap, hung upside down and depantsed in front of the whole school. If those things happened to Serena, too…

Severus was completely out of line with his misplaced rage, but Hermione got to understand a little better where that rage was coming from. The comprehension that he almost died and then was sexually harassed by the same person who saved him out of self-interest missed her until that point. Maybe she didn’t look at it that way because James and Severus were both boys, but what difference did that make, really?  

Sure, he turned out to be a Death Eater, but he wasn’t a Death Eater then. It didn’t speak positively of him that he’d insult someone by evoking their blood status, though. Speaking of which, how did Severus got around knowing Lily? Did _Serena_ know Lily? He knew she was a muggleborn…

Of course, Hermione didn’t have any hopes of finding that out at all, let alone at a first conversation, however she would write that question down, for consideration.

 “The house system doesn’t help.” she prompted.

“Some teachers and even the Headmaster have quite the bias, for sure.”

Hermione had to acknowledge that, remembering just how many rules she broke as a student and getting away with it unscathed, for no reason. Harry could have easily died in the first year because they thought they knew better than Dumbledore about what Snape was up to.

And, it seemed not to be a recent habit of Dumbledore to turn a blind eye to Gryffindors, given Snape’s history.

“Gryffindors get away with quite a lot.” Hermione commented.

She was trying to pay attention to not give away what she knew of Serena. Keeping the fact she knew how things worked to herself was on the backburner.

“You must be quite the researcher. Knowing that after just arriving here in the castle… Impressive.” Serena said with a little smirk and a sip of tea.

“I… I mean…”

“Hermione, Hogwarts’ teachers don’t have apprentices or assistants. You must be under Dumbledore’s protection for some reason I can’t fathom, and I’m not supposed to know, if he didn’t tell me. Was the idea to say you’re not from Hogwarts, when you clearly have studied here, yours?”

“I _haven’t_ studied here.”

Which was true, in a way.

“Whatever you say. I don’t remember you at all, which is funny, because it seems you know me already.”

Hermione swallowed dry.

“There is no need to worry. You’re safe with me. That is why Dumbledore introduced us, in the first place, I’d assume.” Serena said after a moment of silence. “Whoever you truly are, I hope you learn how to watch your tongue before someone kills you for it.”


	3. Chapter Two

Serena regretted biting Hermione’s bait. If it was just mild annoyance before, it became a full-blown itch, to figure out who she was, what she was doing in Hogwarts, why was Dumbledore being secretive about it, and why, exactly, she was Serena’s business, too.

Despite the nuisance of having another thing to worry about, Serena could scarcely remember the last time a pretty girl paid attention to her. Right after graduating Hogwarts, she could blend on certain muggle pubs, where her Dark Mark was nothing but a stylish tattoo, and get her fix for a night.

The duties of being a double agent, and now being a teacher and Head of the Slytherin house left her no time for that. If she was going to be burdened with yet another person to look after, then it was a small comfort to have that someone be pleasant to look at.

Hermione lowered her teacup, clearly quite disturbed.

“I-I should go.”

Serena could almost not want her to leave.

“Next time you want to talk, you can just say so. I don’t bite.”

Hermione’s reaction was a strange mix of skepticism, amusement and disbelief, as she rose a brow and held back a sardonic smirk while standing up. Serena knew she didn’t look very approachable, however she had not treated Hermione badly at all, so she didn’t understand what was so funny about it.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Serena went to open the door for her unexpected guest and combed her hair backwards with her fingers once she was alone, letting out a deep breath.

It was bit pathetic that no matter how many women she met, none could make her feel like Lily did, despite being over five years since the last time they ever spoke. And, even if Serena had not said that foul word, even if she denounced Dark Arts, even then… It wouldn’t change the fact Lily was straight as a ruler, and was not very comfortable with Serena not being straight, either.

That was what hurt the most. Serena kept her feelings locked tight, because she knew it would make things unnecessarily awkward, but her mere _existence_ made Lily uncomfortable.

It was not malicious at all — if Lily had a flaw, it would certainly be her adherence to the rulebook without considering it could be wrong, or that there was room for nuance. Women were supposed to be feminine, delicate, marry to their first boyfriends and have children. Seeing that precious rule being spat on and rejected made her uneasy. There was just no room for that in her pretty, perfect world.

There was no room for Serena. How badly she wanted to keep being friends…

Her downward spiral of despair was interrupted by a loud noise right outside, on the hallways, like the sound of multiple cymbals. She walked right out to see a knocked over suit of armor, and Hermione’s back as she stood aiming her wand at something.

Ahead of her, three people tried to stand. Serena rushed to her aid with her wand at ready only to see and hear a person that made her skin crawl.

“Damn it, Moony! You’re getting rusty!”

“One is missing.” Hermione said, with her wand firmly aimed. “Where is he?”

Indeed. Serena only saw Potter, Black and Lupin. Just how Hermione would know there was four of them?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, miss.” said Black.

“You know _bloody well_ of what I’m talking about!”

Hermione looked around with her wand illuminating the stone floor. Serena could only observe from where she was standing, trying to make sense of everything.

Eventually, Hermione found, on the floor, what she was looking. She raised what seemed to be an Invisibility Cloak, and a squeaking rat by its tail. She went to stand in front of the dumbfounded trio and dropped the rat on the floor. The rat became Pettigrew.

“What are you doing here? Explain yourselves.”

Serena got closer to stand behind Hermione, and Potter locked eyes with her.

“Would you please tell your girlfriend to kindly return my cloak?”

Serena turned her gaze to Hermione, who did not even flinch at the question and whipped her wand:

“Accio Marauder’s Map.”

An old parchment flew into her hand, making silence fall. Serena did not know what this Marauder’s Map was, but Hermione knowing of it made the Marauders themselves scared to their bones.

OoOoO

“You came because of Serena, right?” Hermione inquired. “You saw her name and decided to come here.”

“Listen…”

Remus tried to step closer, and she stepped back, wand up high.

There several concerning things about that situation. One, that the Marauder’s apparently were just like they were in Hermione’s past, which meant Pettigrew was a traitor. Secondly, he had access not only to the cloak, but to the map, who told him who was inside Hogwarts at any given time and all the secret entrances. It was a major security breach to the castle.

Third point: James was supposed to be at home, taking care of Harry. Who was he to think of sneaking out when Voldemort was after his family? What kind of husband and father was he? Lily, naturally, was not with them. She was at her hideout, with baby Harry. Alone.

Of course. She was the woman. So she stayed at home while James went on adventures with his friends like a teenage boy.

Hermione’s blood was on boiling point.

“Explain yourselves. Now.”

“We were frankly kind of concerned that Dumbledore would let a Death Eater inside the castle.” Potter said. “We’re looking out for you, being alone with her and all that, so we came to check. Looking at it from a certain angle, it was for your own—”

“Oh, spare me.” Hermione retorted. “You were supposed to be at home, taking care of your son and being with your wife, you irresponsible, reckless brat. Do you honestly think you know better than Dumbledore and that he would let someone who is not worthy of trust inside the castle? Please.”

That was somewhat of a bluff. She was not certain that Serena was trustworthy, however, given the past couple of minutes, she started seeing Pettigrew’s betrayal in a whole new light.

It didn’t happen only because they trusted the wrong person. It happened because they thought themselves to be oh so clever and invulnerable, that they did not listen to Dumbledore and wanted to outsmart him.

She was trying not to interfere directly with anything, though she hoped to instill some sense of fear and better judgement into the Marauders. They became afraid of _her_ , at least. Pettigrew was cowering behind Remus. James and Sirius didn’t even grab their wands or anything. They couldn’t move, and after Hermione was done ranting, they did not talk at all.

Serena was looming somewhere behind her, probably as confused, but Hermione didn’t have the time to concern herself with that. It would be an issue for a later time.

“Here’s what is going to happen.” Hermione said. “You will turn around, and leave from where you came. I’ll keep the map and the cloak.”

“What if we refuse?” asked Sirius with a dangerous edge to his voice.

“I will talk to the Ministry about three illegal Animagi. Would you like that?”

“How do you—”

“Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail? Really? Not everyone is as dim-witted as the four of you are.”

Remus cleared his throat.

“We’ll leave. There’s no need to tell anyone anything. We’ll just leave.”

“And let this psycho bitch keep our stuff?” Sirius pleaded.

Hermione was just… Not believing what she was experiencing first hand. She always knew Sirius was reckless and Remus didn’t bother enough with it to try and stop it; she had been on their good graces, though. Now, she was the villain.

And what to even say of James?

“You’re not going to let or stop me from doing anything.” Hermione said. “Might as well just leave. I’m certain you don’t want to call Dumbledore’s attention to your presence here, either. Or do you?”

If first she went for half a bluff, that was a complete one. She didn’t want Dumbledore to know she had been meddling with events like that and try to stop her, considering she was put under his care, legally.

For someone so angry at people who thought they knew better than him, she was much of the same, wasn’t she?

“No, we don’t.” Remus said.

“Don’t worry, I’ll return them later.”

Namely, she wanted to keep it all away from James, to stop him from having the means of leaving his hiding place, and away from Pettigrew. He could turn into a rat and didn’t need the cloak, however he could at least not know who was inside castle, and where all those people were.

The other person she would want to keep them safe from was Serena, now that she knew such artifacts existed. Dumbledore could be wrong about her, after all.

James took a deep breath.

“Fine. You win. Happy?”

“Tremendously.” Hermione replied. “I’ll know if you don’t leave the castle right away. Go. I’ll know if you don’t.”

They turned on their heels and left with reluctant steps. Hermione’s heart was racing fast, drumming against her ribs. Only then she exchanged a glance with Serena, with renewed caution.

“Who _are_ you?” Serena demanded. “How do you know these things of them?”

“It doesn’t matter, and it’s none of your business. I would like if you kept this a secret from Dumbledore.”

To her surprise, the answer was:

“I will. If you show me how this map works.”

Hermione weighed her options. If Dumbledore knew, then he could let Serena have access to it all, or, worse, make Hermione return everything. Showing how to activate it was only dangerous if the map was not hidden in a safe place.

And she knew exactly where to hide it. The Requirement Room. She unfolded the parchment, tapped it with her hand, and said:

“I solemnly swear that I’m up to no good.”

Serena hesitantly stepped closer to have a look. While she was looking at the map, brows furrowed, Hermione was looking at her.

She was tall for a woman, to the point Hermione had to tilt her head up. Her hair was very long, and a bit more well-kept than Severus’ was; somehow it contributed to her aura of ambiguity. It was all just… Attention-grabbing.

Hermione caught her swallowing dry.

“What’s wrong?”

The tip of Serena’s index finger was right on top of the footsteps marking her and Hermione, standing side by side in the dungeons.

“That’s how they did it.”

“What did they do?”

 “For an all-knowing being, you’re not very well informed. I thought you’d know this is not the first time they catch me alone with someone else.”

“With a girl, you mean.” Hermione remarked.

“Yes.” Serena said, and met Hermione’s gaze. “And we were not drinking tea.”


	4. Chapter Three

Serena drew circles on her forehead with her thumb, hand on her waist, as she stood beside the fireplace. Hermione was back at the couch, with the teacup she had left unfinished, watching the map.

Thinking back, Serena could even pinpoint when they managed to get that map to start working. During her fourth year, she considered herself a well-oiled machine at the art of avoiding them, but the following term, it didn’t matter how vigilant or secretive she was. The moment she was alone, they would find her.

“They’re gone.” Hermione said, folding the map and tucking it into a pocket of her robes. “So. Will you properly tell me what happened or that is none of my business?”

The instinct was to say it was none of her business. Serena found herself eager to tell the tale, instead. It was unusual to come by people who saw anything wrong with what her former classmates were up to, and, to boot, Hermione treated naturally the fact Serena was into women. She was still somewhat nervous and on edge, but not because of _that_.

It could be because she knew Serena was a Death Eater. Her wording earlier seemed carefully picked as to not deny the possibility, despite all the yelling and veins popping out on her neck. Maybe she did know how to keep a secret, there were just things she didn’t bother to hide. Serena didn’t want to bring up the issue, though, just in case.

Hermione’s interest in other matters was convenient.

“There is not much to say.” Serena replied. “I was doing what horny teenagers do. It just happened to be with another Slytherin girl. They caught us, and the next morning, the whole school knew. Letters were sent to our parents. I recall asking Dumbledore why this was happening to me when other students were caught shagging all the time and nothing happened to them, and he said that I needed to learn how to be more discreet. Well, I don’t think I have to be a coward like he is about it.”

“What do you mean?’

“Dumbledore is gay, Hermione.”

“What? How would you know that?”

“He has implied this to me. Besides, I can just tell.” Serena said.

“Wow. I never noticed.”

“I assume Dumbledore wanted to do damage control. Parents would be concerned about letting such a kind sleep on the same dorm as their daughters. He’s still a Headmaster trying to keep a school afloat financially.” Serena said. “However, I could have gone without him writing to my parents.”

“Did they… React badly?”

Serena took a deep breath, her pride on herself for being private wearing thin. There she was, spilling all her secrets to a virtual stranger, and she was not even drunk. It was just the way Hermione seemed to _understand_.

“They kicked me out of the house once I was an adult by wizard’s standards. My father did, I should say. My mother was too weak to do anything about it. Not that I blame her.”

It was hard to say either Serena would have taken the Dark Mark if that hadn’t happened or not. How much of it was the seduction of mattering and belonging somewhere, and how much was feeling indebted to the Dark Lord because, through Lucius Malfoy, he saw that Serena was not homeless?

Serena did not know. She liked to think she wouldn’t do it, but… She was not sure. Lucius Malfoy came to her aid for a reason. She was willing to take his help, knowing what it meant for her in the future. Knowing what she would be part of didn’t bother her.

“I’m so sorry that this happened to you.” Hermione said, heartfelt. “This is not fair.”

The only other person to say these words to Serena was a Death Eater.

“It’s not a problem anymore.”

“I’m glad. I… I should leave you be. I’m sorry for making you remember all of that.” Hermione mumbled, standing up.

“What will you do with the cloak and the map?”

“I’ll hide them somewhere safe. Where no one can misuse them.”

Serena noticed her cautiousness about not letting it clear where would that be and the emphasis on “no one”.

“Fair enough. I’ll open the door for you.”

With that, Hermione was gone, and Serena was left feeling depleted. So much had happened in a short span of time, that she barely had the time to feel angry about Potter leaving Lily by herself with a child. _Their_ child.

She didn’t know if she felt sorry or felt angry at Lily for marrying such a man. She knew what he was like and fell for him anyway.

Part of Serena wanted to think badly of Lily for thinking he’d open an exception for her — like everyone else in someway deserved his cruel streak, and she would do everything right, and she’d be safe. Like hell she was.

On the other hand, Lily didn’t know the true extent of Potter’s misdeeds. He was not a very good liar, but she was a good believer, and wanted very dearly to believe the people defending muggleborns in the Wizardry World were good and wholesome.

Serena also didn’t want to see the flaws of the people that accepted her. That was how she ended up with a Dark Mark and blood on her hands. All Lily did was get into a terrible marriage, so really, who was Serena to judge?

OoOoO

Lily sighed in relief when the door flung open. The relief quickly turned into concern when she saw her husband’s face. He was livid.

“What happened?”

“Oh, nothing. I just lost my cloak and my map.”

James was marching around the living room, ruffling his hair. Lily tried to conceal she was not half as upset about it as he was; maybe he’d spend more time with her and Harry, then, if he didn’t have how to sneak around.

“How?”

“I’m not even sure _how_. Someone took it from me. I don’t know how she knew, because I never saw her in my life.”

“Honey, you’re not making any sense.”

“I went to Hogwarts.” James said, settling down. “Because… I didn’t want to say it to you, but it seems Snape is working at Hogwarts. I went there to check up on her. I think she might be a Death Eater.”

Lily stood up from the couch.

“ _Serena_ is working at Hogwarts?! It was her who took the map and the cloak from you?”

“No. Her _girlfriend_ did. I never saw that girl, and she knew of the cloak, the map, that we are animagi. She knew everything. I don’t know how. She took my stuff and kept them. We didn’t have a choice, because she threatened to tell the Ministry about us being animagi. We couldn’t risk it.”

Silence fell onto the room, heavy. Despite not having spoken to her in years, Lily often thought of Serena, because that had been the last time she felt like she had true friends. James insisted his friends were her friends, but it was not so. Otherwise, why couldn’t she join them on their adventures?

“She has a girlfriend now?” Lily asked.

“I think so. You’d pass out if you saw Serena. She looks just like a man. I bet she wished she had a cock.”

Another thing that kept Lily thinking of Serena was guilt. Serena was not innocent, however their parting was not entirely her fault, either… She was walking with the wrong crowd and meddling with things she shouldn’t meddle with, however other reasons urged Lily to act aloof and distance herself.

In the beginning of the term they parted ways, the news of her being caught with another girl spread through Hogwarts like fire on dry leaves. Lily was uncomfortable by the idea. It didn’t sit right with her, two girls being together. Two girls having sex.

Only much later, she’d realize what made her uneasy with the situation was her own curiosity on the matter. She caught herself thinking how it would be like to touch and put her mouth on another’s girl body.

Serena never knew, but Lily’s first kiss happened a couple months before, with Mary McDonald. It had not bothered Lily, because in her head, it wasn’t a real kiss. Kissing other girls was fun, child’s play.

When Lily asked if Serena was a virgin, she categorically said:

“Thanks to Potter, you already know that I had sex. It doesn’t count less just because there wasn’t a guy in it.”

It was real for Serena. It scared Lily that she might take it seriously, too. Those worries were put to rest when she married James and found herself happy with it.

Now they were back full force. It seemed foolish, but Lily never considered two women could fall in love, date and be merry. Serena was pretty depressed when the rich pureblood girl she was caught with was sent to Durmstrang in the middle of the term. Hard to picture her being in love. Maybe she was.

Maybe the girlfriend _was_ the rich pureblood girl.

“And her girlfriend? What was she like?”

“I just said she knew almost everything about me, somehow, and you’re worried what was she like?!” James exclaimed.

“Well…” Lily said. “It’s no surprise to me someone would find out how you do what you do. You’re not very careful. I doubt Serena would ever be with someone who isn’t smart as she is, so it makes sense that whoever she’s with would find out, sooner or later.”

“Is everyone out to insult my intelligence today?”

“I’m just saying that you need to be careful. Today you lose your cloak and your map, next thing you know, you lose your life. Maybe you should lay low and stay more at home before you lose something else more important. _If_ Serena is a Death Eater, then you’re lucky to even be here. But, I doubt Dumbledore would let her be at Hogwarts, if that was case.”

“He doesn’t know everything.”

“He falls very short of it!”

“Well, _fine_. I’m going to bed.” James whined before going to their room.

Lily sat back down, staring at an empty space, playing with her wedding ring. She could feel James slipping through her fingers. It was unfair on him for her to be nagging about safety. He always came back home. He must be feeling trapped.

Her mother did always tell her marriage was hard work, and that Lily would have to swallow back her pride to keep her husband happy. It would make her happier in the long run.

She went to her room, where James was already lying down, eyes wide open. Lily changed and slipped under the covers.

“I’m sorry.” Lily said. “I’m just worried. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” 

She loved him. She truly did. He was all she dreamed of.

Why did her dreams come true feel so bleak?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is *not* a Snily fic, but I'd like to portray the reality of internalized homophobia when it comes to bisexual women, and how even their experiences with men aren't the same as a straight woman's experiences, so Lily will be somewhat of a presence here and there.


	5. Chapter Four

Serena thought she would have a moment of peace after Hermione left, but it could not be so. In the wee hours of the morning, when she was trying to have some sleep, her Dark Mark started to burn. It was possible to tell the level of urgency by the degree of pain, and that time it said _come right now_.

It hurt almost as much as it did to burn the Dark Mark on her flesh.

Despite the pain, Serena had to get changed and sneak out of the castle. At least Potter and his little friends didn’t have the map anymore. It could be bothersome to her later if they saw her sneaking out of the castle at such times. If Hermione didn’t hide the map like she said and, instead, kept it, well, Serena was almost certain she knew of Serena’s status as a Death Eater, somehow.

The Dark Lord was waiting for her, alone, in the meeting room. It was a grand salon on the Malfoy Manor, with no furniture, but a single high-backed chair. Serena didn’t like that the meeting was happening in that room; usually, when she stood there, it was to watch others suffer. She was all alone, then.

“Serena, what a pleasure to see you.” said he with the empty eyes of his. Could he still feel anything at all? “I understand that the Hogwarts’ staff has a new acquisition. Hermione Granger. A strange girl, that one. Have you met her?”

Serena kept her face and her thoughts still. Dumbledore didn’t tell that Hermione was somehow so important that the Dark Lord took notice of her — maybe the Headmaster expected that, and didn’t give Serena any information just so she didn’t have any for the Dark Lord to forcefully take.

There were certain memories of the night that just ended that Serena wouldn’t want the Dark Lord to see, anyhow.  

“I have.”

“She has been the talk of the Department of Mysteries as of late. I haven’t been able to identify the reason why.”

That was somewhat of good news. If there was something going on at the Department of Mysteries the Dark Lord was not aware of, then his grip on the Ministry wasn’t as good as he claimed.

On the other hand, it served to reinforce the question: _who_ was Hermione?

“And you would like me to find this out, I take it?” Serena said, as she felt the Dark Lord’s presence inside her head.

She put the entirety of the evening out of his reach. He was not satisfied, and kept pushing harder, and harder, and harder, like he knew Serena was hiding something. Then, he retreated.

“Your evening was entirely uneventful, it seems like.” he said. Serena could only stare back at him, unsure of what to say, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. “ _Liar_.”

Then she was hit by a pain unlike any other, as if her entire nervous system was on fire. It threaded the thin line between excruciating and too excruciating to bear. She fell to her knees, and then face-first on the floor, without ever getting close of going unconscious. It lasted only a moment.

A threat, only.

Serena, then, decided to change her methods, protecting only the memories that were essential. If the Dark Lord knew of those, then she was already dead, but she wouldn’t give everything up so easily.

He probed her mind again, going through the memories of a few hours before. Out of everything, Serena only kept one tucked deep inside her mind — the talk she had with Hermione _before_ the intruders showed up. That one was incriminating. Hermione wasn’t the only one saying too much.

“Interesting.” said the Dark Lord, letting her mind go. “So this girl has a way of knowing things. I wonder if that’s what caught the Department of Mysteries’ interests. It seems to me, given your interactions with her, that she is some type of seer. Dumbledore would like to have such a person under his wing in times like these, would he not? He already has Trewlaney.”

Serena didn’t think Hermione was a seer. Seers could see into the future — she, on the other hand, was aware of things of the present and the past. Then again, there was a section about Divination and such things in the Department of Mysteries… And she could know of future events, yet keep her knowledge of those to herself.

The real disturbing part was how the Dark Lord knew Serena was hiding something about the evening. He knew where to look. Her Occlumency had not faltered, even with the pain of the Cruciatus curse. Otherwise, she would already be dead.

How…?

“I think so.” Serena agreed, standing up feebly, the pain of the curse still ringing on her nerves.

“Well, it seems to me you’re already acquainted with her. I would like you to gain her trust and make her tell you what her importance is herself. Befriend her. Maybe she will even get your mind out of that mudblood girl you’ve spoken to me about. Hermione Granger is of no use to me if she is dead. Perhaps you’ll get to keep her, in the end, if you prove yourself worthy.”

Serena swallowed dry. She couldn’t believe she thought of seeking the Dark Lord’s aid in her attempt of not getting Lily’s blood on her hands. He wouldn’t understand what was like to love someone. Lily was not a thing that could be replaced with something else, especially not as some kind of… _Toy_.

“You may go.” the Dark Lord said. “And, Serena?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Never attempt to hide things from me again.”

Serena limped out of the room, towards the sitting room and dropped herself on the couch. Soon, she heard steps coming in.

“Had a rough evening?” asked Narcissus Black, in silk night robes.

“You have no idea.”

He tossed a vial of potion, that landed right on Serena’s stomach, and sat right next to her.

“Take this. Helps with the pain of the curse.”

“Cheers.” Serena said, opening the vial and lifting it on a toast, and then taking all its bitter content in one sip.

“I have brought you good news, as well. A little bird told me Alecto is coming back.”

“What?”

“Alecto? Alecto Carrow? She’s engaged now, so her family has allowed her to return for a few months. She wishes to assist the Dark Lord.” Narcissus said.

“Oh, fuck.” Serena said, sinking deep into her spot.

“This is not the reaction I was expecting.”

“I have just been hit with a Cruciatus curse, so forgive me for not being jolly about it.”

In all truthfulness, Serena spent quite a while in a miserable mood after Alecto was taken out of Hogwarts by her parents. It was someone to get her mind off Lily. However, the last thing she wanted then was Alecto hoping to rekindle anything between them.

Serena knew exactly how vile Alecto could be. Once, she had said she was glad Serena was a woman, otherwise she could end up bringing to the world an impure child. She _would_ turn Serena in if she found out anything. At least Serena was not living on the Manor anymore…

“It sure is a shame she got hitched. I don’t think her parents would let her near you if it weren’t so, though.”

Narcissus absentmindedly played with a silver chain he carried around his neck. Inside his robes, Serena knew, the chain held an engagement ring. The Malfoy’s family ring, to be more precise.

No one thought it would last, maybe not even Narcissus. It seemed like Lucius could go either way, so the right thing to do would be marrying to a pureblood woman — maybe even Alecto — and having pureblood children with her.

Despite not being very demonstrative, Serena could see he was deeply in love with Narcissus. So much that they both were nearing their thirties and no sign of a fake marriage on the horizon for neither of them. It was an open secret that they lived together and shared a bed.

Surely the Malfoys and the Blacks were losing their patience…

Serena could only hope to be that in love and have such feeling returned by the person. It seemed frankly impossible.

“I’m certain that I’m no threat. I can’t give her pureblood children for more than one reason.” she observed. “She wouldn’t give that up for anything.”

Narcissus sighed and ran his fingers through his deep brown hair. He was alike his cousin, Sirius Black, except more delicately built. They were not the best of friends during most of Hogwarts, however during the year Serena spent living on the Manor, they became close. Part of why it happened was because, like Serena, it was obvious which way Narcissus swung.

“I thought I wouldn’t, either. Sometimes I just wonder... With the Dark Lord being here and everything… If he’ll make us…” Narcissus rambled, not being able to finish his thought. “Sometimes I fear Lucius would do anything the Dark Lord asked. I don’t think I could.”

Serena nodded, the burning on her nerves numbed by the potion. It was a pleasant, non-disruptive numbing: the sign of a well-brewed painkiller. Good. At least she wouldn’t have to return drunk on painkillers to Hogwarts.

“I don’t think he would, either. I suppose that is why the Dark Lord has not asked yet. He’s not _stupid_ , you know. He wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without Lucius’ support.”

“I’m sorry to be talking of this to you when you’re in such a state. Your room is still the way you left it, if you want to lie down for a bit. I fluffed the pillow on my way here.”

“I wish I could. I have to go back to Hogwarts.” Serena said, and stood up with her knees threatening to give up under her weight.

“Be careful, sweetie.”

Serena realized how close she came to die by the Dark Lord’s hand. If her Occlumency had slipped just a little… Hogwarts wasn’t as safe as she thought. She couldn’t afford to be so careless a second time.

“I’m trying my best.”


	6. Chapter Five

“Headmaster, I have been summoned last night.” Serena said, pacing back and forth in front of Dumbledore’s desk. “The Dark Lord wants me to befriend this Hermione Granger and understand how come she knows the things she does. It’s not unreal to expect her to be aware of key facts regarding this war.”

Dumbledore entwined his fingers in front of his mouth, leaning back on his chair.

“That was to be expected. To hear that he was not in position to be aware of her backstory and put you in charge of figuring it out is the best of news.”

“He thinks she’s a seer.” Serena prompted.

“I can’t comment on what she is or she is not, however I’d advise you to do as Voldemort says and do try to seem like you’re working towards building a friendship with Hermione."

“There’s more.”

Serena knew she promised not to tell Dumbledore about the events of the night before, however Voldemort seemed to be aware of what happened and looked for that memory in Serena’s mind. Not what happened before, when she and Hermione were alone, and not even after.

At the time, Serena was too confused to think clearly, but then it hit her. One of the four had to be leak on the Order of the Phoenix, and left right afterwards to tell him of the encounter. Hence why Serena was summoned several hours later.

It made sense. The leak was nearly untraceable; it could be because certain people of the Order were above any suspicion, Potter and his friends between them.

“What is it?”

“Potter and his little friends made an appearance here, last night.”

“Is that so? How come only now I am finding this out?”

“They have an Invisibility cloak, and a map that tells who is inside the castle and where they are at any given time. They… They saw me alone, with Hermione, in my rooms, and decided to come.” Serena said.

“And you’ve dealt with them?”

“I didn’t. Hermione did. She knew them already, and all their secrets, including the fact they’re Animagi. Pettigrew is a rat. I’m not sure what the others turn into, but that should be easy enough to find out, given their nicknames. She has the cloak and the map now.”

“That does explain why she seems to have met you before… It’s safe to assume she knows most of the Order.” Dumbledore observed. “I must say I’m not surprised to learn that they’re animagi. Illegal, of course.”

“And this is not yet what I’ve been meaning to tell you. It seems to me that one of them is the leak in the Order.”

Dumbledore straightened himself on his chair.

“This is not the time for old—”

“Listen to me!” Serena exclaimed, her voice going up an octave. “Hermione and I were alone in my rooms for a moment, then they appeared, and she scared them off. Sometime later, I’m summoned, and the Dark Lord was looking for my memories of my run-in with Potter and his friends. He knew it had happened. He couldn’t break my barriers, but he looked for when they appeared in Hogwarts last night. There was only me, Hermione, and the four of them. I saw on the map. No one was around to see or listen in. One of them must have told the Dark Lord about it. He was aware of what transpired, and I know _I_ wasn’t the one who told him anything. One of them must be the leak. Don’t tell me this is only a school grudge!”

A moment of silence followed.

“I will take this in consideration.” Dumbledore said, and Serena knew he wouldn’t really. “You told me Hermione took away the map and the cloak?”

“It seems to me, by what happened, that she wanted Potter to stay at his hiding place where he belonged and not let Lily and the child alone, so she kept the tools he used to sneak out.”

Dumbledore ran his fingers through his beard, contemplative.

“Headmaster. Who _is_ she?”

“I cannot say. I have faith in your Occlumency, however I am afraid of the consequences of letting anyone know what happened to the girl. Don’t let her tell you anything, as well, even though you should try to gain her trust as the Dark Lord asked you to.”

“So am I to befriend her?”

“Yes. It seems like you’re off to a good start, are you not?”

OoOoO

Neither Serena nor Dumbledore were present at the breakfast table. Hermione wasn’t so sure she wanted to see Serena, so that was a small blessing. After spending the whole night up, improving and annotating her knowledge of the past, she came around a few conclusions.

One, that, in her past, the Marauders did not have the map. The Weasley twins found it on Filch’s office, so it had to have been confiscated while they were at Hogwarts. Hermione wasn’t sure how her interference could change the future events.

Secondly, Serena was dangerous and not to be trusted. She was not at all unsympathetic, however Hermione could not deny she had the reasons, motivations and circumstances to implode the Order and kill Dumbledore. There was no clear reason why she’d defect Voldemort’s ranks — there were many reasons not to do so, instead.

None of that stopped Hermione’s brain from shutting off as soon as she was around. Lunch time, in that case.

“Did I miss any _exciting_ gossip this morning?” Serena said, sitting beside Hermione even though most teachers had already left for their duties, as the term was going to begin the very next day, and there were plenty of seats available.

Hermione hid a smirk with her hand. So much for keeping her distance…

“I’m afraid not. Why didn’t you come?”

“I felt like having a bit of a lie-in this morning. You seem like you could have used some extra sleep, yourself.”

She was aware of the dark purple circles around her eyes; perhaps she should try and have an afternoon nap, despite not feeling sleepy at all. The thoughts and questions swarmed her mind when she lied down. Most of them were about Serena. Her presence, however, made it all go quiet.

“I didn’t have the best night of sleep, if you’re wondering. I’ll sleep some in the afternoon and hope for the best. I guess I was just nervous because the term starts tomorrow.”

“I understand. Children make me want to crawl up the walls and the thought of being in a castle full of them is not comforting in the slightest. The silver lining to your situation is that you won’t be a teacher, neither the Head of a house.”

“Oh. Of course. You’ll be Head of the Slytherin house, right?” Hermione said.

“Unfortunately. The wage is good. Having to take care of children, not so much.”

The only teacher left on the table, Professor Sprout, left, with a small shudder. Everyone seemed to be aware Serena would be a disaster as a teacher.

“Then why did you decide to come, if you hate children so much?”

“I need money to survive.” Serena said. “It was very kind of Dumbledore to not let me be homeless for the second time.”

Hermione unconsciously reached out to squeeze Serena’s arm. Only after the fact she realized what she had done and retreated her hand. If Serena found it weird, she did not demonstrate it.

“Would you like to enjoy your last night of freedom?” she asked, all of a sudden.

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s leave the castle tonight. It will be the last chance of doing so for a while… I suppose I should ask your age before suggesting an activity.”

“I’m eighteen.”

Well, nearly. How would she even keep track of her age now?

Serena shot a sideway glance with a cocked eyebrow.

“You could pass for eighteen, that is for sure.”

“I _am_ eighteen.” Hermione insisted, and then asked: “What do you usually like to do for fun?”

“Nothing that you’d like to partake in, I’m certain.” Serena said, pressing her lips together.

“How can you be so sure?” Hermione retorted. “You haven’t told me yet, so I could decide either I’d like it or not.”

“There is this… Place. In muggle London. Packed full of women like me. I usually go there when I want to have a drink. I’m not sure if—”

“I would love to go.”

Hermione was, in fact, very curious about Serena’s personal life as an assumed lesbian. She never met someone like Serena before and it brought up many questions Hermione never asked herself and couldn’t even begin to answer.

“Will you be fine with women hitting on you? There is no point if you’re going to be bothered by that.” Serena asked, rather gently.

“I’ll be fine. I don’t have a problem with it at all.” Hermione bluffed.

Point was, she didn’t know, because she had never been on that situation. The only person who did hit on her was Viktor Krum. And Ron, a little bit. Speaking of which, he’d be floored if he knew Hermione was going to a lesbian bar with a woman version of Snape.

But Hermione wanted to go and see how life was like for Serena, when it came to that. It fascinated her. Despite, of course, Serena being a dangerous Death Eater Hermione shouldn’t be speaking to, let alone leaving the castle alone with.  

For all Hermione knew, it could be a kidnap plan.

Well, she didn’t truly think so. It would ruin Serena’s cover. As long as Hermione didn’t run her mouth, she should be fine. Right…?

It was too surreal for her to process it, besides her desire to just take the chance while she could. She didn’t think _any_ version of Snape would be that friendly. Better see it through while it lasted.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is obviously *not* a slow burn lol If any of you have read the other Snanger fic I wrote, y'all know I don't like beating around the bush


	7. Chapter Six

Serena awaited by Hogwarts’ fronts doors, overlooking the setting sun, not even minding Hermione was late; the last 24 hours gave her a lot to ponder over. Such as, who was the leak, among the four of her old classmates?

It seemed safe to assume it was not Potter, considering, well, his child wouldn’t have survived to see their first year if so. Still, Serena didn’t want to rule out anything, no matter how unlikely it appeared to be. That was how the leak managed to lay low for such a long time.

Speaking of unlikely things…

Hermione made an appearance.

“Sorry I’m late, I—”

“Lost track of time doing some charts.” Serena quoted her.

Serena’s personal theory on Hermione: she was a prodigy arithmancer. It could be that she was concealing her true appearance so no one of the people who have been at Hogwarts for the past few years would recognize her. Very convoluted, but the only thing that Serena managed to think of.

“Yes.” Hermione replied with a guilty smile, and then turned around. “Is this alright? Is it not too strange?”

It _was_ strange. Serena never saw anything like the jacket she was wearing, for one, and the flowery, flowy dress she wore underneath seemed to be straight out of the last decade, meant for summer days.

An unpredictable combination, which matched Hermione just right. Unpredictability was her theme. There was never a boring moment in her company, for better or for worse. At least this time it was for better.

Serena wouldn’t have considered taking her to a lesbian bar — if she hadn’t invited herself.

In all honesty, Serena thought she was straight, but the Dark Lord would be pleased if there was at least an attempt at getting in her pants, and she did say she wouldn’t mind being hit on by a woman, so…

“You look beautiful.”

Flirting with Hermione for the sake of pleasing the Dark Lord didn’t feel half as calculative as it should have felt, though.  

OoOoO

“Oh. I… Thank you.” Hermione stuttered, not expecting the compliment. “You look… Impressive.”

Serena in muggle clothes was quite something else. She had multiple silver ear piercings in one ear — something Hermione didn’t notice because she hadn’t had the earrings on and the hair covered her ears when set loose —, and was wearing a leather jacket, ripped jeans, black boots, the attire proper of someone who did Molotov cocktails on their spare time.

Hermione hadn’t had the chance to realize Serena was college-aged. It was the perfect time in one’s life to be a rebellious punk, was it not? And, upon further reflection, she _had_ to be quite the defiant type to be herself so unapologetically.

Funny how looking just like Severus — as much as a woman could look, anyway — meant Serena was different in very important ways.

“I can only hope you mean this in a good way.” Serena replied. “Shall we?”

Either it was good or bad, Hermione did not know. All she knew was that she couldn’t stop looking.

“What has gotten your attention in the past couple of days that makes you arrive late everywhere?” Serena inquired after a moment of silence, as they walked to the borders of the Hogwarts’ grounds, so they could apparate away.

It was not charts, but, luckily, there were some charts Hermione was indeed working on. Things started getting interesting only after Serena’s arrival. Until that day, free time was not a scarce resource.  

“It’s nothing exciting. Weather forecast. It’s one of the most complex type of calculations you can make because of the factors involved, so it’s quite challenging and good for improving your skills, even if it seems pointless to attempt predicting the weather.”

“You must enjoy Divination, too.”

“Oh no. I intensely dislike Divination.” Hermione replied, Serena turned to her with a mild puzzled look. “It’s just... A lot of guesswork. Arithmancy is more methodical and makes no such claims like being able to tell the future: a good chart will tell you the likehood of certain events with precision. Sometimes the chances overwhelmingly favor an event, but it’s rare.”

 “I disliked Divination when I studied it. It seems pointless to try if you’re not a seer.”

“Exactly! Whenever I stare at a crystal ball, I see nothing. Just smoke and shapeless forms and—" Hermione stopped on her tracks. “Sorry. I’m not a particular fan, if you couldn’t tell.”

“I was a few moments away from asking that to the tea leaves.” Serena observed evenly, the tiniest smirk curling up the corners of her mouth.

Hermione snorted.

“No need.”

They reached the end of the grounds, and Serena asked:

“Is it alright by you if I take us there? Have you ever been to muggle London?”

A week before, to get the clothes she was wearing. Well, the dress. The jacket was the one she brought on herself during the incident. The eighties’ clothes were, as a rule, not to her taste; the dress was thrifted and probably from the seventies.

“I have, but I have no clue where is the place you’re taking me, so… I suppose it’s okay.”

Serena hesitated a bit before getting a firm grip on Hermione’s arm. She had perfectly manicured nails and very elegant hands.

With a pop, they were gone. A few uncomfortable moments later, Hermione set her foot on an empty alley between two tall buildings in downtown London. Where? She could not say.

Serena let go of Hermione and immediately started making her way to the street, with the girl at her heels. She went to a black door on the ground level of a building nearby with no signs or anything. Hermione wouldn’t be able to tell there was a whole bar behind that door.

But, there was. Brimming with women, ranging from full blown masculinity to conventional femininity. Smoke, chatter and music filled the air. Serena held Hermione’s arm and pulled her close to say in her ear:

“Try to find a table for us while I get something to drink. What do you usually get?”

“Beer.” Hermione replied, on reflex. She should have said water or soda. The only beer she managed to drink was butterbeer, not the regular muggle type.

Too late. Serena was gone, and she was left with the task of finding somewhere to sit. Gladly, there were a few empty tables at the back of the bar. Most women there were by the counter, mingling, or dancing. The tables seemed to be geared towards handsy couples, hidden in the shadows of the dim lighting.

Not the safest place to sit with someone potentially dangerous… Hermione did let herself get apparated, and still was in one piece, in the place Serena said they’d go to. All in all, if Serena was ever going to hurt Hermione, that didn’t seem to be the day she’d do it.

Hermione sat down and took the moment to observe things with more attention. The whole place had an aura of fun to it. Probably because there were no men around to judge or harass… Her eyes landed on two women on the table across from hers.

They talked in whispers, very close to one another. Underneath the table, one of the women had her hand caressing the other’s inner thigh, up her skirt. They were both very feminine — one of them said something that made the other laugh, and they started to kiss.  

Oh.

Hermione crossed her legs, and shifted on her spot. She couldn’t deny the sight turned her on a little bit. How did two women even—

“I hope you’re not lying about your age.” Serena said, setting a cold bottle of beer in front of Hermione, then sitting down beside her, apparently not seeing what was happening just a few steps across them.

Well, it was nothing new to _her_.

Hermione took a small sip and tried not to gag at the bitter taste.

“Do they not ask for identification here?”

Serena shook her head in negative.

“They don’t care as long as you don’t get too obviously drunk and don’t look _too_ young.”

“When did you start coming here?”

“About a couple years ago.”

“I see. How did you…” A pause. “How did you know? That you liked women? If that’s not too private to ask, I mean.”

“I didn’t always know, if you’ve gotten that impression from me.” Serena replied. “I suppose it started when I was a young teenager. I had all these hormones and didn’t know what to do with them, since boys were not an option. I was not attractive, nor attracted, to them. Then I met this older Slytherin girl. We… came to a solution to that problem. Only after we got caught, and I got called a dyke and queer repeatedly through the term and came to learn what it meant, was that I understood. I was about fifteen.”

“And then?”

“I didn’t feel the need to hide it ever since. I will be teaching students that were already studying at Hogwarts when it all happened. This is mostly why I don’t bother with women’s robes. The rumor will spread all over again. I might as well dress and act like I feel the most comfortable.”

Wow.

“One thing has nothing to do with the other, mind you.” Serena said after sipping on her drink, and gestured the couple Hermione saw earlier with her head. They were still being lovingly inappropriate in their corner. “I cannot tell you how many girls I’ve seen that appear to be as straight as it gets and end up here at night, hand down someone else’s pants.”

That was a hell of a crash course on how it was like for Serena. Unfortunately, it seemed to have made Hermione see her in a more sympathetic light. Quite the unwelcome one, considering the threat she was — or could be.

Right as Serena was done talking, a slow music started to play. Not _any_ slow music. Elvis Presley’s baritone voice reverberated through the ambient as he started to sing about not being able to help falling in love.

Hermione watched, fascinated, as couples started to form, in a slow, intimate dance. It seemed so comfortable and natural, like it was meant to be. Serena must have caught her wonder with it because she touched Hermione’s knee and leaned in her direction to ask:

“Would you like to try?”

“I…”

“It will be entertaining, at least. I’m not a good dancer.”

Hermione bit her lip. It was just a dance. It couldn’t be _worse_ than trusting Serena to apparate them to the right place.

“Okay.”

Serena took Hermione’s hand and lead her to where everyone else was dancing. Her legs were indeed a bit clumsy, yet her hands fit just right on the curve of Hermione’s waist.

Hermione entwined her fingers behind Serena’s neck, her heart summersaulting inside its cage as they swayed to the tune of the music. Serena pulled her closer. Hermione found herself urging to run her hands all over, get so close there would be no space between them.   

Oh.

She wanted to _kiss_ Serena.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry if this chapter is a bit of a mess edition-wise! I just really loved it, had *tons* of fun writing, and wanted to update right away!

Serena was not sure how she stumbled her way into what started to feel like a proper date. A date she was, in fact, enjoying. Slow dancing, something she never did, ended up being very interesting — she should have realized her problem was not _dancing_ , but doing that with a guy’s hands on her waist.

It was hard to screw up, too, even if Serena was getting nervous.

She had been on a handful of actual dates but sworn them off after one of them ended up with an obliviated muggle. She couldn’t really connect with any of the women, because she couldn’t say almost anything about herself — being a witch was a secret huge enough, and then there was the Dark Mark.

How to explain to a muggle woman that Serena followed a man who would see to all muggles dead, and got branded in result? She couldn’t even have sex with perfectly sober people. Unlike regular tattoos, the Dark Mark was a burn, something very noticeable from up close, and it moved.

It was not a choice Serena made willingly — it was taking the Dark Mark at some point in the future or having nowhere to live during the last term at Hogwarts — but it was a choice she made, nevertheless.

With Hermione, things were different. She was a witch, too. A sharper and more intelligent one than Serena took her for at first sight. This time, Serena was the one to be kept in the dark; knowing Hermione probably went to Hogwarts somewhere in the past ended up not being as much of a key information.

Serena had to remind herself to check upon the students who graduated in the past couple of years, to see if Hermione’s name was there. She was not a good liar, unless it mattered to her, so it was possible her name was genuine.

That said, Serena couldn’t ask many questions. Anything she learned, the Dark Lord would learn, too.

 “Have you ever done this?” she asked.

“Not with another girl.” Hermione replied and pressed her lips together to spread the lipgloss she was wearing a little better.

Serena bit the inside of her cheek, eyes on Hermione’s lips. Maybe she should stop kidding herself about her motivations. She was doing it because she wanted to, not because the Dark Lord would approve.

Even worse, something inside Serena churned and stirred as she swayed in sync with Hermione.

She lifted Hermione’s chin with her fingertips and kissed her cheek, then the corner of her mouth.

“And this?” she asked again, before kissing Hermione’s mouth. A peck, really. The lipgloss was sticky and had a sickeningly sweet watermelon aroma, and Serena knew she’d always remember that taste.

The music was over.

“…Not with a girl.” Hermione said, short-breathed.

OoOoO

As Hermione was led to an even darker corner of the bar by Serena, she knew full well she should _not_ be doing so.

But she wanted to, and there was no one around to speak some sense into her head.

Serena picked a booth, not a table, and pulled Hermione to her lap once they were both sat, with a whispered “come here”. She didn’t do much, though, except respectfully stroke Hermione’s thigh and pepper her neck with soft kisses.

“I used to have a boyfriend.” Hermione said, apropos of nothing.

“So you thought you were straight?”

The response was a silent nod.

“Well, it could be that you like both.” Serena observed. “I know someone who’s like that.”

Hermione wasn’t sure about that. Things with Ron were growing tense because she didn’t feel comfortable doing, well, anything, and was nowhere close of being comfortable enough to have sex. It could be the problem was Ron, or the fact they were running for their lives in a war, or…

Many things.

At least the fact Hermione vanished to never return solved that problem for her.

“Really?” she asked, playing with a strand of hair that got itself loose from Serena’s hastily done bun.

“Yes. He’s head over heels with another man, and have been for years, though. I’m sure they would be married by now, if they could do that.”

“That’s so sad!”

“It is.”

Serena kissed Hermione’s jaw, and then went for her lips again. The kisses started slow, and soft, as if she was testing the waters. Hermione thought she’d feel uncomfortable and pull away, however that didn’t happen. Somehow, it was comforting to be in Serena’s arms; as the kisses deepened — and how Serena could be demanding and firm —, it also became arousing.

Hermione could feel Serena’s breasts pressing against her through the layers of clothes, and slickness forming between her legs. What Serena said earlier made sense. She was feeling turned on, yet unsure of what she was supposed to do with it.

The strokes on Hermione’s thighs weren’t so respectful, then. They started closer to her knee, but ended up underneath her dress, inching closer and closer to her ass.

All of a sudden, Serena stopped, and her hands were back on Hermione’s waist.

OoOoO

“What’s wrong?”

“We’re still in public.”

There was that, and the fact Serena couldn’t have sex with Hermione, if, for some reason, she wanted it too.

The _stupid_ Dark Mark.

Hermione was not going to take it for a tattoo. It could be that she already knew Serena was a Death Eater, but Serena wouldn’t volunteer that information or even try to pry it out, because there was no covert way of asking: hey, do you know that I’m a Death Eater?

She didn’t consider that before because she thought, for sure, Hermione would reject her or want to stop before things got interesting. Yet there Hermione was, with her hands dangerously close to Serena’s tits.

“Why did you break up with your boyfriend?” Serena asked.

She wanted to know more about Hermione, although she knew it was unwise to ask too many questions. The Dark Lord would get it out of her, no matter how good her Occlumency was, so it was better to remain unaware. Hermione’s previous boyfriend seemed like a safe enough topic.

“We couldn’t stay together anymore, because I went away. Very far away from him. And I didn’t have a choice on the matter.” She said, and that sounded true enough. “I… I’m not sure it was going to last, either way.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re too different. Everyone thought we were supposed to be together because we were best friends, and I didn’t know any better. It was... Stressful. I didn’t break up with him because I wanted to, at the time, but… I don’t think it would have lasted, if I got to stay.”

“In the United States, you mean.” Serena said, afraid Hermione was about to slip where she came from. Her breakup story could fit her story of being from the Salem Witch Institute.

Serena figured it was not true, but the Dark Lord didn’t get to see the conversation where she brought that up, because she also said Dumbledore introduced them for a reason and that she’d look out for Hermione, so…

Better not let the Dark Lord see anything that implied Serena was not as loyal as he thought. That would have gotten her killed, the night before, or, worse, put under the Imperio curse.  

“Exactly. Did you ever have a girlfriend?”

“I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure.”

“Were you never in love?”

“I have been, once.” Serena said, carefully, wondering what would be safe to say. “She was my best friend, but she is straight, so… Nothing happened. She didn’t even know of my feelings. She hardly ever acknowledged the fact I’m not straight. She’d say to me that just because I liked to play around with girls, didn’t mean I couldn’t be _normal_ like her.”

Hermione scowled.

“That’s a pretty terrible thing to say.”

The more time it passed, the more Serena’s opinion on Lily was ambivalent. Her feelings never seemed to waver, though.

“She meant no harm.”

“It doesn’t mean she didn’t do any by saying those things to you.” Hermione said, stroked Serena’s face, and tucked the strand she was playing with previously behind Serena’s ear. “Are you still friends?”

“What do you think?”

“No…?”

“I was an asshole to her, too.” Serena confessed. She just couldn’t keep anything to herself around Hermione, could she? “It was mostly my fault.”

Hermione narrowed her eyes for a split of second.

“Did you meet her in Hogwarts?”

Could she know…?

“No.” Serena said, and Hermione visibly relaxed. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I was just… Wondering something. Never mind. And this friend of yours, she was the only girl you had feelings for? What about the Slytherin girl?”

Serena accepted the change of subject without question. Better not to know…

“Did I mention she was rich and pureblood? She wanted to marry a man and pop out pureblood babies. There was no way I could ever feel anything but friendship for her when I knew I was just a pastime. One good thing about it all is that I stopped wishing I was rich and pureblood, too. At least my womb is my own business, not a factory for pureblood babies.”

“Fair enough.” Hermione said, with both brows raised in surprise.

“Let’s not talk of the past anymore.” Serena purred, pulling Hermione closer to kiss her neck.

She didn’t want to think of Alecto.

She didn’t even want to think of Lily, the old memories fading, as new ones were made. Lily was gorgeous, and kind, and smart, but she was not the only such girl on the planet.  

Why should Serena remind herself of all the pain — even if entwined with rays of hope and happiness — when Hermione was sitting on her lap, melting like butter underneath her touch? No drawbacks, no buts, no conditions.

Well, perhaps Serena should correct herself. Her feelings for Lily never wavered…

Until Hermione appeared.


	9. Chapter 8

Hermione wasn’t sure of what to do with her hands or her face in the morning. The night before seemed to have been a proper date, including some degree of sneaky snogging around the Hogwarts’ halls as they walked up to Hermione’s rooms.

The way it ended, though, was fairly… Unlike Serena. She seemed to be more risqué when they were in public than when they were alone, inside a basically empty castle — and she didn’t make any gesture towards spending some time in Hermione’s room, either.

That felt oddly off. Hermione did not miss the fact she was wearing sleeves and not once rolled them up, even in the heat of the bar.

Was Serena a Death Eater or not?

Hermione wasn’t quite ready to have sex, and wasn’t even sure she’d like to go that far with Serena — well, fine, Hermione was attracted to her, but she could have that first experience with someone less dangerous. Serena wouldn’t have the same apprehensions, so it could be that she didn’t want to be seen undressed.

What were her intentions, really? If she was a Death Eater, then getting involved with Hermione was not an intelligent move. Even if she didn’t already have a strong feeling Serena was a Death Eater, she would figure it out, eventually, if they got close enough, even without sex.

Hermione tried to act normally at the breakfast — since all the staff was present, up early to start preparations for the students that were to come in the evening — and greeted Serena with a good morning that sounded casual, or so she hoped.  

Serena did the same, face like that of a sphynx. What was she thinking? What was she feeling? Hermione didn’t get to know, because Serena eat very little and left right afterwards, in silence.

With Hermione busy helping Professor Vector with the last-minute details, and Serena working the dungeons, they only got to see each other at the feast, in front of hundreds of students and the whole staff — not the best place to have a heart-to-heart.

Serena was civil, nothing more.

Hermione got a bit teary-eyed at the sorting ceremony: it reminded her of all that she left behind. It was Hogwarts. Not _her_ Hogwarts, though. Deep inside, she knew she’d never see Harry, Ron, or her parents again. Her thoughts spiraled down to darker and darker corners, and all the accumulated sadness threatened to burst.

She wasn’t going to handle to see it to the end without bawling her eyes out, so she left to her rooms; the patrols wouldn’t start until a couple of hours later, plenty of time to cry and recompose herself. She threw herself at her bed to let the tears and sobs flow freely, the numbness dissipating, the grief over her lost life taking place.

It wasn’t the same. It wasn’t _her_ world, _her_ past. She fell through a crack of time and space, to never return.

A soft knock on the door startled her.

“Go away!” she yelled, and, given the silence, she thought whoever was pestering her gave up, so she resumed her sobbing.

“I’m going in anyway.” said whoever was on the other side, opening the door.

Hermione immediately shot up, wiping away the numerous tears rolling down her face. 

“Serena, n-now is n-not…” The sobs were so violent she couldn’t speak. “Not the time.”

“I’d say it is the perfect time. Why are you so upset?” Serena said, carefully approaching Hermione, who then laid down again, face pressed against her pillow.

“It’s none of your business.”

It did feel good to say the Snape motto back at Snape.

She felt a shift in the mattress. Serena had taken a seat by the edge of the bed and clumsily patted Hermione’s back.

“Fair enough. I won’t ask anything. May I keep you company while you cry your eyes out?”

Hermione shook her head positively. From Serena’s point of view, it must have looked like a mass of wild brown hair moving in a vague motion, but she got the gist of the answer and remained, in silence.

“You can lay your head on my lap, if you want.” she said, after a couple of minutes.

Hermione was not being able to calm down, feeling two weeks’ worth of grief all at once, so she conceded, and crawled to rest her head on Serena’s thighs. She promptly started to stroke Hermione’s hair.

The silent company and the soothing touch did manage to settle Hermione down. The sobbing waned, so did the tears, although some tears refused to stop forming.

“I’m getting tears all over your pants.” she said, her voice muffled by the fabric of Serena’s robes.

“I was aware of the risk when I offered my lap.”

Against Hermione’s wishes, Serena felt familiar. Snape was Snape in whatever world, and even though their relationship was much different in this new reality Hermione was stuck in, nevertheless it was something to hold on to. Everything felt strange; Serena didn’t.

Hermione eventually calmed down enough to sit up. Her face and eyes were swollen, her hair was a _mess_.

“I must be quite the sight right now, uh?”

“No one is exempt from looking terrible after a crying spell.”

“So I _do_ look terrible.”

“Not permanently.” Serena said and cupped Hermione’s face. “I understand you can’t tell me anything. You’re not alone, regardless. I can infer the circumstances that brought you here were not the best.”

“They weren’t. And… Thank you for coming. I’m not having a particularly good time as of late.”

Her appearance in such a time did let clear they were still in friendly terms. How friendly were these terms, exactly, was still unclear to Hermione. She excused herself to wash her face, try to fix her hair — which didn’t work, so she put it in a bun — and only then felt comfortable enough to try and approach the subject.

When she returned, Serena was standing near her desk, flipping through a particularly challenging Arithmancy book. Hermione got closer.

“This one has been keeping me up at night.” she commented about the book, feeling a little nervous. They were all alone.

She put the book down and turned to Hermione.

“I suppose there is a conversation we need to have.” she said, carefully. “We are colleagues, and I’m your superior.”

Hermione felt her heart drop, anticipating what was about to happen.

OoOoO

Serena opened her mouth and couldn’t bring herself to say the right words. _Last night was fun, but nothing like that can happen again_. There was nothing else she desired less than to push Hermione away. It would crush her heart to keep her distance.

She was not strong enough to bear it.

So she closed her mouth and took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

Maybe there was a glamour, a spell or a potion that could conceal the Dark Mark. Serena would find it, and then the fact she was a Death Eater wouldn’t be a problem anymore. She’d figure it out.

“We need to be careful, is what I mean. It would be terribly inappropriate, even if we weren’t two women.”

“Oh.” Hermione replied, sounding relieved.

“I’m sorry if I seemed cold towards you earlier today.” Serena said. Her tongue seemed to have escaped her control. “I don’t want to give anyone the reason to believe there is… Something happening. I’m not ashamed of who I am. Even so, we cannot afford to be open.”

“Yes, I… I see. This is new to me. I didn’t even consider you are my superior. In a way.”

“I must say I didn’t, either.” Serena confessed, quietly.

She reached for Hermione’s hand and pulled the girl closer to a tight hug; Hermione wrapped her arms around Serena’s waist, to then rest her head on Serena’s chest. She inhaled deeply and let herself linger. 

“Are you feeling any better?”

“ _Much_ better.” Hermione said, and inhaled again, digging her fingertips on Serena’s back.

See, Serena could compile a list of reasons why that was the wrong choice, and despite knowing of the high chances of it all blowing up on her face, she couldn’t help but to feel no regrets. It would all end badly in one way or another, for her.

Might as well enjoy herself while it lasted.

She held Hermione’s face and kissed her lips. Hermione let go of her grip and moved her hands to Serena’s neck, while Serena put her hands on Hermione’s back, pressing her close, deepening the kiss.

Serena was well aware she was playing with fire, though. It had been hard enough to pull away the night before, and they weren’t even alone, in a room, with a _bed_ , like they were then. It didn’t take long for her to feel a warm sensation between her legs, the urge to just touch herself or rub against something or do anything to relieve the pressure building up.  

Which she would have to do, later, if she wanted to get any sleep.

She let her mouth wander to Hermione’s cheek, then she stopped, just resting her lips against Hermione’s face.

“We have duties to attend to.”

Hermione whined, frustrated.

 “We can meet again after we’re done.” Serena offered.

“I… Need to tell you something, I guess.”

“What would that be?”

“I don’t think I’m ready for anything more than kissing. I would like to meet you later, though. I just thought… I’d let you know.”

Good news, at least. It was a solid reason to postpone sex other than Serena playing coy because of the Dark Mark. Even Hermione — who didn’t know her much — already figured out it was not how Serena was like, if there was a need to say she wasn’t ready for further intimacy.

 “Of course. We’ve known each other for a couple days only.” Serena said, and then added, upon further thought: “This time around, at least.”

Hermione laughed out loud.

“This is the first time we meet, trust me.” she said, smirking like she had an inside joke with herself on Serena’s expense.

Serena was dying to know what Hermione hid. Still, she wouldn’t even dare to dig in too deep on her theory about Hermione being a genius arithmancer, or a metamorphmagus, or both, just in case she was right.

That couldn’t be it. What were the _odds_? How supernaturally smart and knowledgeable Hermione would have to be to be able to calculate events of the past and know them as if she were there to see?

Upon further research, Serena came to know the reason why Arithmancy was about probability had to do with how hard it was to learn all the factors involved in a single event. It was possible, in theory, that an arithmancer could factor everything and end up with a probability of 99,9% towards a certain result, therefore in fact being able to tell what was going to happen.

Doing that and for the past, rather than for the future, something unheard of?

What else could it be, though?

“Can you answer me one question?”

“I will try.” Hermione replied.

“Did we, in fact, meet before?”

Hermione hesitated.

“If you can’t answer, I understand.” Serena said. “It’s simply aggravating to feel as if you’ve known me and I can’t remember you at all.”

“There’s no reason for you to remember me. We haven’t met before.” Hermione said, reassuringly. It sounded genuine enough.

If they hadn’t met before, Serena wished they had.


	10. Chapter Nine

Not only the outside world was flipped upside down.

Hermione found herself having an inner breakthrough the closer she got to Serena; she went from the virgin, chaste girlfriend wanting to wait for the right moment, to not being able to stop thinking about sex in less than a month.

What kept her mind so fixated was because she didn’t know how it was supposed to go. The more time passed, the more Serena seemed like a viable option, too. Hermione counted the hours to see her in the evening, and time flew by when they were together. Talking to Serena was pleasurable. But the fact they didn’t do much more than that was frustrating Hermione.

Serena was being painfully respectful. They laid in bed and kissed on occasion, however her hands never wandered, and she was always dressed in full.

Although Hermione didn’t hesitate to mention she was not ready, letting it clear that she wanted to do a little more than family-friendly making out wasn’t as easy. There was no tactful way of putting it, and she was surprised herself to have grown comfortable with the idea so fast.

Maybe it was because her suspicions about Serena being a Death Eater were put to rest after a while — she wouldn’t get _that_ involved if she were, right…? —, or it could be Hermione wasn’t that excited about having sex with men. She always thought she was too busy and had greater things to worry about, but… It could be that she was lying to herself.

Could be both.

Regardless, Hermione didn’t want to outright say she wanted to go further, so another tactic came to her mind. Serena was always dressed, but so was she.

On a particularly quiet Saturday, Hermione slipped out of the castle to muggle London and found her way to a lingerie shop to buy the flimsiest, shortest, most useless and expensive nightgown she ever had.

Except it was the prettiest…

And when the time Serena said she’d be done with her duties approached, Hermione put out a few candles, so her room was dimly lit. It couldn’t get anymore obvious than that. Reading was a bit hard on that light, but Hermione picked up a book to relax and wait for the soft knock on the door that preceded Serena’s arrival.

When she did arrive, she quickly closed the door behind herself and sat by the bed, expression unreadable.

“When I was going to be told Christmas would arrive earlier this year?” she said, after a moment of painful silence, serious as if she was in the classroom. 

Hermione snorted a laugh, putting the book aside.

“Do you like it?”

“Obviously.” Serena replied, flashing a toothy grin for a split of second, running her knuckles up Hermione’s thigh, eyes eating the girl alive. “Is this why you sneaked out of the castle earlier?”

“You saw me?”

“I was passing on a window when you were leaving. I wondered what you were up to. You picked a poor day to make me this surprise, though.” Serena said, kissing Hermione’s knee. “I’m on my period.”

“Oh.”

For some reason, Hermione thought Serena was above such earthly matters. It was impossible to picture her laying in bed, with cramps, like a regular human being.

“I’m not saying we can’t do _anything_.” Serena kicked off her shoes and crawled on top of Hermione. “Just nothing on my end.”

Hermione simply nodded, not knowing what that meant. Serena kissed her collarbone, then her neck, and her mouth, spreading her legs with a thigh and hands finally wandering a little bit to hike up the nightgown to Hermione’s hips.

The pressure of Serena’s thigh on her clit made Hermione whimper and squirm on her spot. Her fingers feebly made their way to the buttons of Serena’s frock coat, which made the young Potions Master hesitate for a moment.

“Just the robes.” Hermione whispered, in a plea. She was starting to think Serena didn’t like taking her clothes off because she had been forcefully stripped like Severus had been.

Serena pondered for a moment and then nodded in affirmative. There were many buttons, each building the expectation, until the last one became undone, and Hermione took the coat off, throwing it aside, finally feeling Serena’s skin with only the thin layer of the cotton undershirt between them.

Hermione would never be that excited to see a collarbone. She traced it with her fingertips, fascinated, then lowered her hands down Serena’s torso, stopping on the breasts. There was no bra, so, through the thin fabric, she savored the sensation of soft flesh and hardened nipples against her palms.

Oh my.

Serena leaned forward to kiss Hermione’s neck and lower the straps of the nightgown; her lips left a damp trail as she found her way to Hermione’s boobs, making the girl gasp in surprise.

Hermione felt fingertips heading south, into her panties.

“Is this okay?” Serena stopped to ask.

“Yes.” she replied, emphatically. “Please.”

OoOoO

Hermione was _wet_ , Serena realized when she felt the girl up to dampen her fingers before touching her more intently. She touched Hermione’s clit in circular motions, with varying speed and pressure, until she found the combination that got the most reaction.

Then the Dark Mark started to burn.

Because _of course_ it would.

Serena sat on her ankles and combed her hair backwards to get it out of her face, coming to her senses. She was about to do something very, very stupid. She already did it, actually: she could have come up with a more long-lasting excuse than a period.

“Serena, what’s wrong?” Hermione asked, sitting up and straightening her nightgown.

“I…I have to go.”

“Why? What’s the matter? Did I push you too hard?”

Hermione crawled to be beside Serena and lightly touched her arm, but with the Dark Mark burning, any light pressure made Serena hiss in pain — she tried to hold it back, but it didn’t work; Hermione’s face dropped, and she put some distance between them.

“It’s burning, isn’t it? The Dark Mark?”

“You knew it.” Serena muttered. “All along. Didn’t you?”

Hermione crossed her arms in front of her chest, the air of the room growing chilly with her coldness.

“I thought…” she sighed. “Nevermind. I don’t know what I thought. It should have been obvious.”

“If you know I’m a Death Eater, then you must also be aware I’ve defected and I’m working for Dumbledore.”

“I am.”

Serena turned away to put her shoes back on.

“You don’t sound very convinced of that.”

“I suppose I’d be more certain if I knew why you did it. I don’t know everything. I couldn’t even be sure you were a Death Eater until now.”

“I… Can we talk of this later?” Serena said, picking up her robes and buttoning them up.

Although there was _some_ time to talk, she wanted to think through what she was going to say to Hermione, since she didn’t seem to have learned of the prophecy. Of Lily.

“Fine.” Hermione replied, though the tone of her voice let very clear things were the complete opposite.

Serena tried to lean over to kiss Hermione goodbye on the lips. She turned her face and the kiss landed on her cheek, instead.

The way down to the grounds was full of angry kicks to the stone walls. Why on Earth Serena thought she could keep the Dark Mark a secret? Why did she let herself get close to Hermione in such a way? Why did she think it would all work out in the end?

Nothing ever worked for her, why such a reckless, stupid thing like that would?

Regardless, Serena had to center herself before showing up on the Malfoy Manor. She arrived a bit late, and the salon was already filled with dark cloaks and silver masks, forming a circle around an equally cloaked, masked figure, knelt in front of the Dark Lord.

Only their arm was on display. A delicate arm, still not branded, ending in a small hand with feminine fingers. It was another woman.

“Do you vow to honor and serve me, your Lord? Will kill and die on my command?”

Serena got there late. Whoever was new to the party, was about to be branded.

“I do.” said a shrill voice Serena wouldn’t ever forget.

Alecto.

Alecto didn’t make any noise when the tip of the Dark Lord’s wand touched her arm and started to burn the Dark Mark on her untainted flesh, though it was possible to see her shaking inside the voluminous Death Eater robes.

Then it was done. Serena was too dizzy and preoccupied to hear what was being said by the Dark Lord. She left the room immediately after they were all dismissed, taking off her robes and her mask, when she heard someone call:

“Serena? Is that _you_?”

Serena stopped walking. The front door of the Manor was a few feet away, down the hallway. She could ignore it, keep on walking, but she could hear the light steps running in her direction and ended up turning on her heels.

“It is you!” Alecto exclaimed, jumping on her neck and wrapping her legs around Serena’s waist. “It’s been so long!”

Alecto kissed her fully on the lips.

“It’s been…”

“Six years.”

It felt like only a minute had passed since they saw each other last.

“And you thought you were going to sneak out like this and not stay for my welcome dinner?”

“Is your fiancé attending?” Serena asked, feeling the huge engagement ring resting against her face.  

“He had to stay back in Sweden, unfortunately.” Alecto said, with a fake pout, and climbed off Serena. “You’ll have to keep me company, I guess.”

“I can’t stay. I’m sure you’ve heard I have a full-time job now.”

“As uptight as always, I see… It will be fine if you stay awhile. As long as you show up on time tomorrow, it should be fine, shouldn’t it?” Alecto held one of Serena’s hand and placed it on her buttock. “Right?”

Serena swallowed dry. That was an offer hard to refuse, if taking in consideration Hermione wanted nothing to do with her, anymore.

Alecto was no good, but it was all Serena could have.

She gave Alecto a good squeeze.  

“I’m sure I won’t be missed.”


	11. Chapter Ten

Hermione flipped through the books. Dark arts. Dark arts. Dark arts. With a sigh, she turned away from the shelves and sat on the couch, arms crossed in front of her chest, searching deep in herself for something she was not feeling.

Anger.

There was the initial shock, of course. For a while there, she really fooled herself into thinking Serena was not a Death Eater. Deep down, she always knew it was the case. That didn’t stop her from getting close to Serena before, why should it stop then? Knowing for sure changed nothing.

Merlin, Hermione _liked_ Serena, much to her surprise, which shouldn’t have been, really. Severus had plenty qualities Hermione admired, even though the fact he was a sadistic, unethical teacher stopped her from liking him. Well, not in the same way, for sure.  

After a couple of hours, Hermione started to worry for Serena’s wellbeing. She had left to answer to Voldemort’s call and was already a double agent. She might as well be dead, if the memories of their earlier conversation were seen.

Which was why Hermione was pouting in her couch, waiting for her return against better judgement.

The wait stretched itself out into the early morning, and, by then, Hermione had already succumbed to the exhaustion. She realized that when she slowly woke up, head resting on a fluffy pillow, tucked in a bed that was not hers.

She sat up, rubbing her eyes, recognizing the sound that woke her up: someone was taking a shower nearby. And then she recognized where she was.

Still in the dungeons, taking a nap on Serena’s bed.

The shower was turned off. Serena emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel, drying her hair. In her left arm, the Dark Mark was pitch black against her pale skin.

“Well, good morning, princess.” she said, somewhat ironically, trying to measure where they stood with each other.

There was what Hermione wanted to feel. She wanted to feel disappointed, afraid for her life. Then there was what she was actually feeling: a healthy dose of relief. Not only Serena came back, she seemed to be in one-piece.

“When did you arrive?”

“An hour ago. You were fast asleep in the couch and I thought I might as well put you somewhere that won’t give you lower back pain.”

Serena went to the dresser and picked a pair of pants, a white undershirt… And white boxers.

Well, Harry had not gotten into that deep of detail when he retold the memory he saw in Severus’ pensieve — thank Merlin —, but he did mention underwear was on display. Maybe things had happened in a much more similar way Hermione was expecting.

Then Serena went into the bathroom again. When she came back, she was dressed, her hair leaving wet stains on the shirt. Hermione was still sat up on the bed, not knowing how to proceed, what to do, what to say.

“You wanted to know why I defected.” Serena said, breaking the silence, and sitting down near Hermione. “Maybe the reason has more to do with why I joined, in the first place.”

“Why?”

“I did mention I was homeless for a while. Didn’t you wonder how I got out of that?”

Hermione was so overwhelmed by everything that she had not thought of it…

“The Dark Lord offered me a place to stay. Rather, one of the Death Eaters did. I knew he was a Death Eater, and I knew what that offer of help would mean to me in the future. I accepted anyway.”

“Who?”

“Lucius Malfoy. You know that name?”

“Y-yes. I know him.”

Now that made perfect sense. Hermione felt like a fool for not thinking of it sooner.

“I defected because I’ve realized the full extent of what the Dark Lord is doing. How much power he actually has… How many horrid things had my participation in them.” Serena said. “I want no part in that. I cannot give up, there’s no going back from the Dark Mark. The least I can do is try to undo or prevent any harm.”

Very noble, but not very tangible, Hermione thought. She wanted to believe it, and maybe Serena even believed it herself, however the possibility of turning cloaks in the future was not prevented by that motivation. The reasons to do so were way more palpable than mere regret.

Serena saw what Hermione was thinking.

“You’re not buying it. I understand. All I ask is that you give me a chance to prove to you I’m trustworthy.”

Hermione wasn’t that concerned about Serena’s loyalties at that moment as much as she worried about the future, but… Serena was not Severus. She couldn’t judge her for his actions. It would be unfair to not give her a chance.

For all it was worth, she seemed to be wanting to protect Hermione’s secret by not letting herself ask too many questions and filling in the lies for her.  

Giving her a chance didn’t mean being completely unaware of the future possibilities.

OoOoO

Somehow, a good thing happening made Serena feel worse.

“What took you so long?” Hermione asked, as she buttered a croissant. “It wasn’t a raid, was it?”

“No one was hurt last night, if that is what you’re asking. Not even myself.”

“I’m glad. I was worried… I was worried that you might not come back. Voldemort is a Legilimens, right?”

Serena felt a pang of guilt. What took her so long was fucking Alecto to the mattress, to make up for six years of spotty sexual activity and a month of increasing sexual frustration over Hermione.

She thought it was all over, yet they were having breakfast together in Serena’s room, in a small table set up near the windows to the waters of the lake. Hermione was still a bit distant, of course. At least this time, when — or if —  she warmed up again, there was nothing stopping Serena.

“It is a happy coincidence I am a good Occlumens. You don’t have to worry about it. I would appreciate if we kept dangerous conversations to a minimum, however. He… He knows I’ve gotten close to you. He will sense something is wrong if everything about you on my mind is out of his reach.”

“ _What_?!”

“He’s inside the Ministry.” Serena said, taking a sip of coffee. “He knows the Department of Mysteries is interested in you, for some reason, and he is, too. He thinks I’m watching you, and it is true. Dumbledore told me to do it. You’re safe as long as the Dark Lord thinks we’re getting along.”

“Does he… Does he know we’re…”

Hermione didn’t finish her sentence. It seemed neither of them knew what exactly they were to each other.

“No.” Serena replied. “It’s a matter of time. He obviously knows of my sexuality. He’s been using it to blackmail me since the very beginning, and he will be pleased by this, in fact. One more thing to hold against me and keep me bound to his will.”

Hermione nodded, in silence, and Serena reached out to touch her.

“No harm is coming your way, if I can help it.”

Serena stroked the back of Hermione’s hand, not looking away from her face. Affection swelled on her chest and threatened to burst through the seams. Not ever someone accepted Serena just as she was like Hermione did.

Dark Mark and all.

“I’m not worried about it. I mean… I was aware there were risks and went for it anyway.”

“Is that why you started pestering me? To find out if I was a Death Eater?”

“…Yes. And why did you start pestering _me_?” she asked, sharply. “You wouldn’t just suggest a night out with me for no reason.”

Serena leaned back on her chair with a snort.

“Why wouldn’t I? We got along well, I felt like. I could have pretended to keep an eye on you in other, safer ways, if I so wanted. I didn’t.” she said. “It was the worst possible thing I could have done. If the Dark Lord ever catches you… I’m dead. And it won’t be quick and painless, either.”

Hermione was holding her breath.

Serena brought Hermione’s hands to her lips and kissed it.

“I was aware there were risks.”

They finished eating in silence and Hermione stammered a lame excuse to leave. Serena took her to the door, but, before letting her go, she had to know:

“Will you ever wear that nightgown for me again?”

Hermione bit her lip, indecisive, and didn’t answer for a while.

“Was the Dark Mark the reason why you were avoiding having sex with me? You’re not on your period, like you said you were.”

“I meant to call things off the day after we kissed for the first time, and I just couldn’t. I thought there would be a way to conceal it.” Serena said, probably not helping her case. “I couldn’t volunteer the information to you. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to scare you off. I hope… I hope this is not beyond repair.”

“You’re lucky that I already thought it was so from the moment we met. Otherwise… It might truly have been.” Hermione retorted.

She kissed Serena on the lips before turning on her heels to storm out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her, leaving Serena all alone to smile at herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hermione is a tsundere, you heard it here first, folks.


	12. Chapter Eleven

“I’m so tired.” Hermione said. “The students just wouldn’t… Shut up. You’d think that I would have an easier time since they _chose_ to be in my class.”

Sure, there was a war going on and the Potters would be dead in about two weeks if her timeline held up, but being a teaching assistant wasn’t much of an easy job. She had less responsibilities than a teacher, however she was fully responsible for the third years starting Arithmancy and grading all homework — so Professor Vector had free time to work on her projects for the Order of the Phoenix.

It was a small detail she had not taken her N.I.E.M.s. Back when she had just suffered the accident with the time turner, she didn’t want to enroll as a student because it felt too permanent of a decision.

Being a teaching assistant felt more temporary.

Not enrolling as a student was the right decision to take. She would have way less freedom to come and go from the castle as she pleased… Not to mention, Serena would have been her teacher.  

“It could be that you’re being too nice to them and they don’t respect you.”

Hermione opened her eyes and smirked to the ceiling of Serena’s rooms. Look who was venting to about noisy children…

 “What are you smiling about?” Serena asked, tapping Hermione’s feet so she would lift them up and free up some space on the couch.

Hermione sat up instead.

“What do _you_ do to keep everyone quiet during class?”

“What do you think?” Serena said, after accommodating herself.

“I think you make the students afraid for their lives.”

Serena smirked, with no small amount of guilt.

“In your class, if the students are rebellious, the most that can happen is a wrong chart. In my class, if they don’t do as I say, they could explode the castle. I wonder whose idea it was to put the Potions classroom in the dungeons. If something goes wrong there, the whole castle is compromised. Getting rid of toxic fumes is also quite the task. The students _should_ be afraid for their lives. I’m already a woman and almost the age of the oldest students; I don’t need them thinking I will go easy on them if they do something wrong.”

“That is… Fair.” Hermione conceded.

Since the beginning of the classes, she hadn’t heard anything outrageous coming from the students about Serena, which was relief.

Then again, Hermione had no idea how Severus behaved as a teacher when he started, or even in a class without Gryffindors or Slytherins. Or in a class without Harry and Draco. It probably worked on his favor to spoil Draco rotten, for one, and Harry… Well. He loved to hate on Harry.

Hermione didn’t think Serena would be like that. Comparing to _him_ , she was very expressive, carefree, foolish. Happy. Not half as hateful and miserable. Now and again, Hermione could catch a glimpse of Severus’ most extreme behavior in Serena and wonder if something had happened to him that… Broke him.

And if the same could happen to Serena.

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

“Nothing, I’m spacing out a bit. I’m so tired today.”

Serena tucked a lock of Hermione’s hair behind her ear.

“Would you like to sleep over?”

“W-what?” Hermione said, her face growing warm.

“You’ve fallen asleep here before, and whatever it is that we’re doing here, we’ve been doing this for a while. If you don’t want to do anything, that is perfectly fine. I’m not expecting you to want anything so soon, I simply… I’d like you to spend the night with me.”

Under Serena’s ardent gaze, Hermione couldn’t help herself. She didn’t think she could ever be so doted on and desired by someone else; wanting a person on the same measure never happened to her, either.

After receiving the confirmation Serena was indeed a Death Eater, Hermione put some distance between them, but didn’t take long at all to cave in. She soon learned Serena had been holding herself back the whole time because of that secret.

Serena became _intense_ , and Hermione found herself liking it.

If she stayed, she knew exactly what would transpire.

“…Okay.”

Serena leaned for a slow, lustful kiss that she cut short.

“I’m going to take a warm bath.” she said. “You can join me, if you want.”

Hermione held back a laugh.

“Took you long enough.”

“I had to try. And I do need a warm bath after spending the whole day on my feet and grading papers.”

With that, she stood up and went to the bathroom. Hermione was left alone with her memories of that night when they nearly had sex. She thought about it over and over many times over the past several days. 

She wanted to go all the way. If, in the end, Serena was not worthy of trust, Hermione would deal with her regret then. So she took off her shoes and went to the bathroom herself after a while.

Serena was already soaking. She smirked when she saw Hermione coming in and watched in silence as the girl stripped.

Hermione would have normally felt self-conscious — Serena was so thin and tall, while she had some rolls of fat and a less than flat stomach —, but the yearning set of eyes that were on her never wavered.

She stepped in, placed herself between Serena’s legs and rested her back on Serena’s chest.

Underneath the water surface, she felt two hands stroking her thighs. Her knees separated, and her hips bucked in anticipation as a shiver of arousal went up her spine.

Serena gently bit the curve of Hermione’s neck, and the girl licked her lips, waiting. Her hands went down Hermione’s inner thighs as she said:

“I thought you wouldn’t come, for a moment.”

“I’m here now.”

Hermione gasped when Serena started to touch her and dug her fingertips on the flesh of Serena’s thighs as the pleasure built up and her muscles tensed up from it. She put a hand behind her back and slid it down Serena’s stomach, curious to see how it would feel to reciprocate the touch.

“Oh.” Serena exclaimed softly and adjusted herself a little better.

It was not the ideal position, so Hermione couldn’t do much, but feeling Serena made her feel more turned on, and, soon, the pressure building up from touching Serena and being touched by her would culminate in a toe-curling orgasm. Hermione relaxed all her muscles and leaned back on Serena for a moment, catching her breath.

“Let me try.” she said, turning around to stay on her knees, one hand propping her up on the edge of the tub, the other between Serena’s legs.

She knew the drill. Mostly.

“A little slower.” Serena said in a mutter. “Harder.”

Hermione did as she was told as Serena had her mouth on Hermione’s breasts, hands all over her body. Serena’s breath became shallow, rapid, and she arched against Hermione’s hand — that was how Hermione knew she found the right rhythm.

Serena didn’t make any sound beyond a weak whimper as she came.

Hermione sat on her ankles, facing a Serena who had a lazy smile on her face.

“You’re surprisingly good at this.”

“Is this… It?” Hermione asked, not quite satisfied yet.

“Not entirely. You said you were tired. I thought it was best to go slow tonight.”

“O-oh. Then what else is there?”

“I can show you.” Serena said, tracing Hermione’s cheek with a fingertip. “We should get dry and go to bed.”

“Yes, please.” she replied, getting out of the tub first.

OoOoO

Lily opened her eyes, and lied still, pretending to be asleep while she felt James standing up from their bed. She couldn’t turn around to see what was happening, but she heard him going to the bathroom, then sneakily trying to open the doors of their wardrobe.

A couple of moments later, he left the bedroom.

Lily then stood up to see his pajamas on a pile on the floor, and proceeded to follow him, through the hallway and the living room, to the front door.

“James, _what are you doing_?” she said, arms crossed, as he turned the knob.

He turned on his heels, stammering as he put his glasses up to their right place.

“You see, I was just going to check if the door was working proper—”

“Don’t.” Lily said, suddenly tired. So tired. “Don’t even try. Please. If you want to sneak out, just do it, but don’t hide it from me.”

“What for? So you can be mad at me every time?”

“Yes! Exactly! If you want to put me and your own son in danger, then at least I deserve to know! What if you leave, and someone comes here, and I’m asleep, because I think you’re here, too? At least give me honesty.”

“You don’t understand! I’ve been living like a caged rat for a year! A year! I’m tired of being here stuck with—”

“With your family?!” Lily exclaimed. “You’re tired of your own family? And you think… You think I’m not tired, too? Life isn’t about just you getting your fun and excitement! Grow up! I carried Harry for nine months and have been taking care of him basically alone for one year, and not once, _not once_ , I left our hiding places. How do you think I feel, knowing that the man who is supposed to support me is sneaking out at night, risking my own safety? You’re a father, and a husband, not a teenager boy!”

“See, this is why I don’t tell you anything! I always come back home, safe and sound! If I tell you, all you do is yell at me!”

Harry started to cry in his room, probably from hearing his parents’ yells. Lily felt sorry for herself and Harry. She tried everything to make James more at ease. She would go hours on end without even being in the same room as him because she feared it would make him feel trapped to her.

If it were just herself, she would yell at James until her throat was sore, but Harry didn’t deserve to hear it. He didn’t deserve such a lousy father.

“Then go.” Lily said, very quietly. “And I won’t yell at you anymore if you just don’t come back.”

They stared at each other in silence for a moment.

“Very well.” Said James, straightening himself. “If that’s what you want.”

She went to Harry’s bedroom and picked up him, holding him close to her chest, as she tried not to cry.

What Lily wanted was to turn back in time and listen to herself when she doubted getting married to James so early. He proposed thinking it was just another grand adventure, a big party to be had. What he wanted was a wedding, and to look good, not to actually be married.

And when Lily fell pregnant, he thought of all the fun things he could do with a young boy. Teach him how to play quidditch, all the hexes.

Lily didn’t even want to think how things would be if Harry had been a girl and James’ view of fatherhood was tainted by his thinking that a young girl wouldn’t be interested in all of that — like he assumed Lily wasn’t interested in his affairs with Sirius, Remus and Peter.

It shouldn’t be a _surprise_ , really. It was always there for Lily to see, was it not?

The way he spoke of Serena, who was as much of a boy as a girl could be. As if she were an aberration. And that day… That day when their friendship ended. Lily wasn’t there to see, but she heard many recollections of how James stripped Serena because he thought she couldn’t possibly be a girl, right?

James hadn’t changed one bit, in the end.  

When Harry fell asleep again, Lily left his bedroom and only then allowed herself to cry and bawl as much as she liked. Amid it, she went to the small office of the house, sat by the desk, opened a piece of parchment and dipped a quill in ink.

 _Dear Serena_ , she wrote.

Yes, Serena had called her a mudblood. Yes, she walked with the wrong crowd. But if Dumbledore trusted her enough to let her teach at Hogwarts, then… She must have changed, unlike James.


	13. Chapter Twelve

_Dear Serena,_

_You must be wondering why I am reaching out to you after such a long time. I just wrote to say… You were right. You were right about James._

_I don’t think I want to be married to him anymore, and there is no one else for to write who will understand that. I cannot say what happened, but, to you, I don’t have to give any explanations. I’m sure you can take a good guess._

_I’ve been thinking about what happened between us… I hear you are teaching at Hogwarts. That must mean you’ve changed. You were my best friend, and, to be honest, it might be that you still are, after all this time._

_If I’m right, and if you’re able, I’d like to be friends again._

_Truly yours,_

_Lily Evans_

Serena folded the letter, with Dumbledore intently watching her reaction.

“You can’t answer this letter.” he said.

“I’m aware.”

Dumbledore rose a single brow.

“I was not expecting this level of understanding of you.”

If that same letter had been written a couple months ago, then maybe Serena would be tripping all over herself to answer it and talk to Lily again. Much had changed ever since Hermione came into the picture.

For one, Serena realized it was no use pining over someone who would never see her in the same light. She didn’t think she could ever properly be with Hermione, not with her secret looming between them like a dark shadow; still, she was not nursing her feelings based on nothing and her own wild imagination. It was _real_ , for once. Anything less than that did not fulfill her anymore.

Serena was still doing it for Lily, and it hurt her to see things were way worse than she expected — she hoped that Potter would at least have the decency of treating his own wife well —, but rekindling old feelings would only bring her pain.

“One year is a long time, Headmaster.”

Dumbledore remained in silence for a while, studying Serena, who was forced to avert her gaze. She had not told the headmaster how friendly she had gotten with Hermione… Or the fact she had compromised her position as a double agent to her.

Though, of course, it didn’t seem to be anything new. It was compromised from the moment Hermione stepped inside Hogwarts.  

“You realize you are in no position to succumb to foolish feelings, do you not?” Dumbledore said. “For whoever they might be.”

“You have no reason to fret. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I failed.”

Reading Lily’s letter and feeling close to nothing let very clear she had succumbed to foolish feelings already. _Hard_.

Dumbledore nodded and leaned back on his chair.

“Have you spoken to the Carrow girl as of late?”

“I’m afraid I haven’t.”

 “If the chance ever presents itself, you must.” Dumbledore said. “I’m sure your past relations will work on our favor.”

Dumbledore was not much different from the Dark Lord, was he? Regardless of who Serena worked for, she would always be exploited for her sexuality.

Still, she recognized the importance of being in friendly terms with Alecto, who had vanished for the past couple of weeks. Serena had not minded — sleeping with her once was a mistake, and the more she could postpone letting Alecto know it wouldn’t happen again, the merrier.

However, she could not forget Alecto was brought back for some reason. The Dark Lord possibly helped to convince the Carrows to let their daughter return, even under heavy protest from Amycus, who knew Serena was a Death Eater too, and was still… Well, herself.

Being gone for two weeks meant Alecto was up to something.

“I will keep that in mind.” Serena said. “Is that all?”

 “For the time being.”

Serena was about to leave when she turned on her heels.

“What of the leak? Have you looked into it?”

“I’m investigating the matter. This is not a problem for you to worry about.”

Serena had to disagree with that. If there was a leak that close to Lily, then she was in terrible danger. As such, it was Serena’s problem.

It could be that the leak had not fully defected yet. The Dark Lord knew when not to push too hard; he had not asked Lucius or Narcisus to quit playing house and marrying, for example.

Either way, time was running out fast.  

OoOoO

Hermione could undoubtedly say she was screwed, as she looked over the numbers.

Out of curiosity, she started to make an Arithmancy chart. It was supposed to calculate the chances of Serena turning cloaks or not being loyal to Dumbledore at all, considering what Hermione knew of her and what she knew of Severus — a glimpse of what Serena’s future could be.

Of course, she didn’t need to look at the probabilities to know it was likely Serena would turn or was never loyal in the first place.

Her feelings for Serena sprouted and rooted deeper into her each day, regardless of what her calculations or common sense told her. Hermione was tiptoeing on a dangerous edge, and she knew she would fall.

She carefully rolled her parchments and hid them alongside the notebook where she kept her notes. Ever since she started making the chart, she preferred to meet in Serena’s rooms. Just in case.

And, so, after she was done with her patrols for the day, she headed into the dungeons. Serena stood by the windows, nursing a glass of firewhiskey. The robes were nowhere to be seen, and she had her sleeves rolled up.

Hermione took her sweet time getting beside Serena, enjoying the view, though her eyes avoided the Dark Mark. Serena passed an arm around her shoulders and held her close once she was close enough.

“Rough day?” Hermione asked.

She never saw Serena drinking, except that one beer. Probably wasn’t a good call since she could be summoned by Voldemort at any given time.

“You could say so.” she replied, greeting Hermione with a kiss.

Hermione rested her head on Serena’s chest and stroked her back with both hands. Whatever happened to Serena, clearly it was not meant to be discussed. Like she did when Hermione broke down on the sorting ceremony, Hermione offered comfort without making any questions.

Serena took a sip of her whiskey.

“I hope your day was better than mine.”

“Probably.” Hermione replied. “Though I had a pile of charts to grade and there were so many things wrong with them I gave up at some point.”

She could tell Serena was smirking, so she added:

“It’s not the students’ fault. Arythmancy is hard to comprehend and some students don’t even have the basic understanding of mathematical operations. The purebloods, mostly, that didn’t go to school before Hogwarts.”

“Did you?” Serena asked, cautiously.

Hermione pondered over either it was wise to reply to that or not, though ended up deciding telling Serena she was a muggleborn was not that much of a precious information.

As long as she didn’t mention any Hogwarts’ letter, of course.

“Yes. I loved it, actually! I loved all the sciences, maths… I was in a denial for a while after learning I am a witch.”

“I didn’t go to muggle school.” said Serena. “I’m a half-blood. My mother, who was a pureblood, taught me how to read and other such things.”

“Really?”

Hermione was not a good actress. She could tell Serena realized she wasn’t saying anything new to Hermione by the way she replied:

“ _Really_.”

They were threading dangerous waters with that conversation, so, to cut it short, Hermione went to the tip of her toes to kiss Serena again, who bit the bait and deepened the kiss, pining Hermione against the glass of the window.

For a while, they did just that, but soon Serena would be nibbling Hermione’s neck instead and pulling up her dress to her hips.  

Hermione did not like the dresses she had to wear all the time because they were too modest, and she couldn’t deal with the long skirt. In such occasions, however, they could be of use.

By then, Serena knew exactly how Hermione liked to be touched the most and stroked her clit in precise circular motions to have her writhing within no time. Then, she eased a finger inside Hermione, and a second one not long after.

Hermione untucked Serena’s shirt and popped out the buttons to feel naked skin. Her breath was heavy, and she could feel the pressing sensation between her legs growing stronger. Serena’s fingertips stimulating a sensitive spot inside of her that made her buck her hips and tense her muscles.

Serena pressed her even more as the rhythm of her fingers increased and Hermione’s pleasure built up to the point of a noisy climax. Serena had further plans for that moment, and knelt, putting down her glass on the floor at a safe distance.

Hermione watched her curiously, then understood what was going when her panties were lowered, tossed aside, and one of her legs was propped up on Serena’s shoulder.

Serena licked Hermione’s thigh and her mouth worked its way up.

She was good with her tongue in many ways, it seemed. Hermione tried not to move so much and buried her fingers on Serena’s hair as she was worked up to yet another orgasm.

It wouldn’t be the last of the night, either.

At some point in the early morning, they tired themselves up enough and cuddled to each other on the bed, still a bit sweaty.

Serena had her head propped up and watched Hermione as she fondled the girl’s stomach.

Hermione wondered what was going through Serena’s head. Was it all just sex…? She had to admit it became something more even before they had sex for the first time.

“Serena?”

“Yes?”

“Do you ever imagine yourself falling in love again? I mean, I suppose in your situation is not wise, but…”

“I’ve done my fair share of mistakes.” Serena replied. “I don’t see why I wouldn’t commit one so satisfying.”

Hermione pressed her lips together and said nothing until Serena broke the silence.

“Have you ever been in love?”

“I had no idea I like women, so…”

“It will come around. Try not to fall for a straight girl, so you don’t waste your time like I did. I held on to the feeling because I thought I’d never feel the same way for someone else, and I kept thinking… What if. What if she wasn’t straight. It’s painful, pointless, and it is much better to be around someone who sees you in the same way you see them.”

A piece of solid advice.

Kind of useless, though, since Hermione’s true problem was falling for someone who might as well be her demise. Serena was always much more honest than Hermione expected, however the pieces didn’t connect like she hoped they would.

She did not know the full story yet, she could feel it in her bones.  

“I’ll keep that in mind.” she said.

Serena kissed her cheek.

“Will you stay over again?”

“I guess. I don’t even want to know what time it is. We have _maybe_ four hours of sleep.”

“We should get to it, then. Sweet dreams.”

Serena laid down and Hermione scooted over to lay on her chest, not feeling the least bit sleepy now that she started thinking again about the whole situation.

If the Potters died within the next couple of weeks, then Voldemort would disappear for a good decade. Would Hermione only find out about Serena’s true loyalties then, by seeing everything play out in front of her like it did before?

Would it be too late to save Dumbledore and the Order?

Would it be too late for her to save herself?


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If y'all were wondering where the plot was all this time...

Serena wouldn’t hear from Alecto until much later; the month was nearly over when she received a note.

_Meet me by your apartment tonight._

_A.C._

She didn’t even have to think twice about how Alecto knew where she lived. It had to be Narcissus’ doing.

It was a dirty cheap apartment in a shady part of muggle London that she used mainly to store her belongings while she remained in Hogwarts; if it were within the wizardry community, it would be that much easier for the Dark Lord to trace her steps.

Not something she wanted at all.

And so, after dinner was over, she left. Unfortunately, without having an opportunity to tell Hermione she’d be gone for a few hours.

Her initial plans were simply to tell Alecto they wouldn’t sleep with each other anymore and that she wished to remain friends. They all went down the drain when Serena stepped into the place and saw her living room cleared up, her furniture put against the walls.  

There was a single chair in the middle, where James Potter sat, tied by ropes, gagged. His glasses laid, broken, on the floor. Still, he recognized Serena and glared at her when he saw her coming in.

Alecto stepped out of the shadows of the corners with a satisfied grin.

“Surprise!” she said. “I know your birthday won’t be until January, but I decided to bring you a gift anyhow.”

Serena’s heart started to race, though she tried to keep control of her face and limbs.

“I’m touched that you thought of me.”

Alecto approached her to touch her lower back.

“I’m sorry for disappearing. I was working hard on this mission, you see. The Dark Lord was started to close in where the Potters were hiding and put me on the job. He was blackout drunk, by himself, at a bar. Can you believe it? The last thing I need to do is pry out of him where his kid is. I thought I’d call you to help me out with that.”

Potter tried to struggle against his binds, to no avail. Serena could feel all the magical wards around him and the whole apartment. Even if he physically set himself free, there was no way he could leave.

“You could have told me to bring _Veritaserum_.” Serena remarked.

“I know. But it would be too easy. Not nearly as fun.”

“Does the Dark Lord know you’ve done this?”

“Should I tell him every time I go to the loo? You’re a Death Eater, too. I don’t see why it should be a problem.”

The Dark Lord did not appreciate Death Eaters not doing exactly as he told and sharing information. A smart strategy, all in all, otherwise Serena would have never known what Alecto was doing.

If he didn’t already know Alecto brought Potter to Serena like a cat bringing a dead bird to its owner, then maybe Serena’s cover was not yet lost.

“It won’t be, for sure. What is it that you want to do with him?”

Alecto sighed, dropping her shoulders.

“Serena, did someone already tell you’re no fun? Isn’t it obvious? I want to torture him until he speaks, and I want you to help me out. I thought you’d like that. Repay everything he did to you, to _us_ , all these years.”

A tempting offer.

Still, what Serena wanted at that time was to find a way to rescue Potter before Alecto got the information out of him. He wouldn’t last a minute on Alecto’s hands. She always had been somewhat of a sadist — Serena would know — but, this time, she had reasons more than her own enjoyment to want Potter’s suffering.

“Where do you want to start?” Serena asked, fishing her wand out of her pocket.

Alecto turned to Potter and Serena went to stand beside her, clasping her hands on her back… And covertly aiming her wand at Alecto.

“Let’s warm him up, shall we? Crucio!”

Without uttering a word, Serena cast an Expelliarmus and Alecto was sent flying across the room, crashing against a shelf. She was small and skinny; the full power of a spell catching her off guard made her collide hard, and a wet crack reverberated through the whole ambient.

Alecto slid to the floor, her body limp, eyes open in an empty stare. Serena drew in a deep breath, horrified. She stood still, too afraid to be sure of what she had just done.

It was not what she intended to do.

She should have thought twice. She should have used any other spell.

Serena dropped her wand and had to leave to the bathroom to throw up her entire dinner. The dry heaves persisted for a while even after there was nothing left to even vomit. Only after almost an hour was that she managed to flush the toilet, rinse her mouth and wash her face.

When she returned, Potter stared, wide-eyed, at her.

Alecto had blood and clear fluid dripping down her ears and nose. Serena stepped closer, and crouched down to check for breathing, already knowing she’d find none. Maybe Alecto was still alive right after the collision, though even the most skilled healer wouldn’t be able to do anything for her. A part of the skull had caved in completely.

She stood and walked to Potter to take off his gag. Then she slapped him across the face. Once. And again. A third time. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and made him look to Alecto’s body.

“Look.” she hissed. Potter tried to look away, but she held his chin to hold his head more firmly. “Look what happened because of _you_. I’m going to contact Dumbledore, and he’s going to deal with you. The next time you get caught because of your plain stupidity, I won’t move an inch to save you. Understood? I’ll let you die, and I’ll dance on your grave.”

Serena released him and left to cast a Patronus to Dumbledore. The last thing she wanted him to see was that it was a deer. Like Lily’s patronus.

Once the silver deer was gone, Serena found a clean sheet on her wardrobe and returned to the living room to cover Alecto’s body. She found Potter’s wand on Alecto’s pocket. 

“So you _are_ a Death Eater.” said Potter. “Like I suspected.”

“Say another word to me and I’ll gag you again.”

Then she left to the kitchen, and waited for Dumbledore, trying to pace herself and plan. The Dark Lord might not have known Alecto would try to get Serena involved, but whoever gave Serena’s address to her would have reason to suspect her disappearance.

Alecto’s body would have to be dealt with, too.

Dumbledore didn’t take long to walk inside and find Serena. He could pass for placid. She, however, could see the rage burning in his eyes.

“Serena.” he said, gravely. “Where is he?”

“In the living room.”

Dumbledore took the lead there. He picked up Potter’s glasses from the floor, repaired them and put them on his face.

“I’ll be brief: our best option now is to cast a Fidelius Charm around your house. I understand you and Lily are no longer in good terms with one another, but constant transit around the house drew Voldemort’s attention.”

“How did you know that?”

The letter Lily wrote to Serena.

“I’m not blind nor deaf, James.” Dumbledore replied. “Do you know of the Fidelius Charm?”

“…Yes.”

“Very well, then. I could be the Secret Keeper, if you so desire.”

“I’ll ask Sirius.” Potter replied, and then looked at Serena: “Could you please set me free and give back my wand?”

Serena vanished the ropes with a flick of her wand and then gave Potter’s wand back to its owner. He stood up and stretched his legs, eyeing her suspiciously.

“I’ll deal with it.” Potter said. “Leave it to me.”

Serena stepped towards him and put her wand on his throat.

“I don’t trust you. Headmaster, you can’t trust him to do this alone. Since when he listened to you or cared about safety at all?”

“He’s an adult.” Dumbledore said. “I trust that he will make the right choice. Serena, let him leave. You and I have other matters to tend to.”

A clear warning. Serena had no choice but to lower her wand and watch Potter vacate the premises, limping.

“He’ll get Lily killed.” she said, once he was gone. “He just didn’t this time around due to sheer dumb luck. Alecto wanted me to help her and didn’t do anything to him until I arrived.”

“And then…?”

“I did what I had to do. I attacked to her. I wanted…” Serena’s breathing started to lose pace. “I wanted to knock her out, not kill her. I… Miscalculated. The spell was too strong and sent her through the air with too much force.”

“What is done is done. I’m sure you had the best of the intentions. What do you think we should do with her body?”

“We can’t… Return it. To her family. There’s no way to do it without making things worse. The Dark Lord will want to retaliate if her death is confirmed. He’ll take it as warning. We can’t afford to anger him.”

“For the time being, it can remain buried in the Forbidden Forest. When the opportunity presents itself, I’ll make sure her body will find a definitive resting place.”

Once they were in the forest, Serena did nothing except watch as Dumbledore commanded two shovels to dig a grave. Her knees were faltering, and she leaned against a tree, the reality not yet settling in.

Alecto was outright terrible. Still, she had demons of her own. Serena understood her better than most. She hoped Alecto would eventually improve, realize her shortcomings. She was robbed of that chance, by Serena’s hands.

Because of Potter.

Once the grave was done, Dumbledore floated Alecto up and respectfully lowered it into the earth. He said nothing.

Serena said nothing, too, the shock still far from wearing off.

Somehow, she managed to stumble her way to her rooms, even if her limbs trembled and refused to obey to her. Hermione was nowhere to be seen. Given that she was alone, Serena decided to knock herself out for the rest of the night and took a heavy-duty sleep potion.

She wanted to have no dreams, because of all them turned into nightmares.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

_How creepy it is to watch someone sleep?_ , Hermione thought to herself, as she stared at Serena, who happened to be asleep.

It was the morning of October 31st. The night before, Serena left the castle. Hermione went to check her rooms once, and they were empty. After breakfast — that Serena had not attended —, Hermione decided to get back to the dungeons a second time.

The students who would have Potions’ classes that day were notified Professor Snape could not attend due to health issues. The actual reason was, Serena had put herself into a potion-induced slumber.

Considering her circumstances, Hermione completely gave up on the idea of being productive that day, so she settled down on the empty side of the bed to wait for Serena to wake up.

Out of the whole situation, the thing she hated the most was being completely in the dark about what was happening in the Order. There was not much of an Order to speak of, and this particular Dumbledore had no reason whatsoever to keep her informed of anything.

Only after a great deal of insistence was that she managed to know there was a baby Harry Potter in that world, hiding with his parents. If she had not insisted, she wouldn’t even be aware of it until after they were dead.

Now it was the day the Potters would die, and she didn’t even know if a Secret Keeper existed at all.

Eventually, Serena stirred in her position and opened her eyes, drowsy. Hermione threw her line right back at her:

“Good morning, princess.”  

She smiled weakly and sat up, rubbing her eyes. There was something off about her. Something static, empty.  

“So it is still morning.”

“You missed breakfast, though. Did… Did something serious happen?”

Serena looked at Hermione in silence for a very long moment.

“Yes. I suppose there is no harm in you knowing Potter got himself caught last night. I had to save him.” she said. “At a heavy price.”

Hermione clutched her heart.

“What?!”

“It seems he and Lily are no longer in good terms. He’s been coming and going from their hiding a place frequently, even without the cloak, and the Dark Lord managed to close in on the location. Potter was drinking by himself someplace and got caught. I got summoned and managed to get him out.”

Hermione did not miss the casual way the name Lily rolled off Serena’s tongue. She had the impression Lily was friends with Severus, if she wanted to save him from James; either that whole thing happened with Serena, Hermione could not be sure.

Regardless, first she wanted to know if there would even be a Lily at all in that world for the next 24 hours.

“And then?”

“All I did last night was for nothing. Dumbledore told him to put a Fidelius Charm around the house and that was it. I’m certain… I’m certain he’ll find a way to fuck it up. There’s a leak, you know?” Serena said, bitterly. “Among his friends. That night when they came for me, the Dark Lord summoned me right after. He knew that they came. There was no one around, but us.”

Hermione drew in a sharp breath, clutching her heart.

Pettigrew.

“Couldn’t that leak have already given Voldemort the location of the hideout?”

“He knows when not to ask too much. It is only a matter of time, though. Potter and Lily will never suspect. Dumbledore won’t, either.”

Hermione fell back to her comfortable position, trying to think. It could be that there was still time for her to catch Pettigrew. The charm was cast the night before, and she knew the Potters died at night time, so maybe Voldemort came for them as soon as he knew.

It gave her several hours to try and locate Pettigrew.

Although Serena’s disposition made Hermione think that, for the time being, she was being loyal to Dumbledore, it was still unclear either it would remain that way. And when that time came, if it came, Hermione didn’t want Serena to know her secret.

 “You are well, I take it?”

“I’ve not been physically harmed.” Serena said.

She didn’t seem to be well, but Hermione could not wait around.

“Then I suppose it’s best that I leave you alone to recover.” she said, already jumping off the bed and putting on her shoes. “I’m busy today, though I’ll try to come back around later if I had time.”

With that, she fled without giving Serena as much of a glance. It could change her resolve to not tell anything if she did. She wanted so badly to just trust Serena, though she knew better than that.

Her rooms were her first stop, where she skimmed through her notes about the Marauders to see if she could find an address, anything pointing her in Pettigrew’s direction.

Nothing.

Perhaps if she tried to find Sirius or Remus instead, they would help her out.

Running against the clock, Hermione changed into the muggle clothes she had on during the accident — by far the most comfortable outfit to wear on a chase — and put on her teacher robes on top to hide it while she went to the Requirement Room.

It was morning, which meant sneaking out of the castle without being seen required that extra help.

Once she found where the cloak and map were hidden, she activated the map to study her possible ways out. Going to Hogsmeade was an option. Aberforth could maybe give her something to work with.

Then she spotted a pair of footprints in her rooms, with the name Serena Snape under them.

OoOoO

Serena did not, in fact, want to be alone, but Hermione left before she had a chance to say so. The last thing she wanted was to be in company of her thoughts.

It was a war, and people died, and she was a double agent, so a death by her hand was bound to happen sooner or later. She didn’t want to be such a senseless one, however. Once she said it out loud to Hermione, the reality sunk in: it had been for _nothing_.

The leak was still close to Lily, Potter was still a reckless brat who would try to pull some stupid heroics. Serena didn’t think Dumbledore could keep Lily and her son safe anymore, because he could not see Potter for who he was.

Hermione said she’d be busy, though maybe she would be only grading papers in her rooms, and Serena could stay there, even if only to watch her work.

She first took a quick shower, changed into clean clothes and brushed her teeth. Then she went to Hermione’s rooms. She knocked and there was no answer. She undid the wards on the door and opened anyway, just in case.

Hermione cared much about Lily and her son, for some reason. Serena did not forget her yelling when Potter tried to catch them red-handed, that first night.

Her room was a mess. Papers and clothes were all over the place.

Serena walked inside, many terrible thoughts already running through her head. Had Hermione been kidnapped, from inside the castle? Did the Dark Lord have another spy inside Hogwarts?

Atop of her desk, a leather notebook was open on a page with a folded corner. _The Potter’s Death_ was written on it. Serena ran to it and flipped the page. It was written, in neat calligraphy:

_The Potters died on October 31 st, 1981. _

_The Fidelius Charm was cast around their hideout. Allegedly, the Secret Keeper was Sirius Black, however, in an attempt to trick Voldemort, Pettigrew was made Secret Keeper. Not even Dumbledore was aware of this exchange._

_That is how Pettigrew leaked the location to Voldemort, who then killed the Potters._

_Where was this hideout?_

_How much did Pettigrew wait to hand the Potters to Voldemort?_

Serena’s heart missed a beat. She flipped another page. It was a second section, titled _The Marauders_. Much of it was information of Potter and his friends, things that were true. The fact they were animagi and Lupin was a werewolf. Some other things seemed to be of the future, though they were written in past tense, such as:

_Sirius Black was placed in Azkaban after Pettigrew faked his own death. He spent 12 years there, and then escaped to try and be in touch with Harry._

_Remus Lupin came to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts in Hogwarts._

_Peter Pettigrew exploded a muggle street and cut his own finger to fake his own death, and thus escape Sirius Black._

The following section was by far the thickest one. Its title was _Severus Snape_. It was written in an even bigger calligraphy than the other section titles, with a thick trace underneath it.

_Severus Snape taught Potions in Hogwarts and was Head of the Slytherin House._

Serena’s eyes went through the text too quick for her mind to follow, though she caught a few snippets.

_… as smart as he is unpleasant…_

_…called Harry’s mother a mudblood after being depantsed in front of the whole school by James…_

_…titled himself Half-Blood Prince (surname of his pureblood mother, Eileen Prince; he’s everything but an actual prince if I do say so myself)…_

_…was nearly killed by Sirius Black and saved by James Potter…_

_…wanted to teach Dark Arts but got hired for Potions instead…_

These things happened to Serena. She _did_ sign her schoolbooks as Half-Blood Prince.

Then there was a breakdown, year by year, from 1991 to 1997, of things he had said or done. Most of the things did not make any sense. Serena knew Harry must be Harry Potter, Lily’s son, but she had no idea who Neville, Draco or Ron were.

One of the last things Hermione wrote on this man was a date.

 _30 of June, 1997_.

  _Severus Snape killed Dumbledore on top of the Astronomy Tower._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been itching to write this chapter since the very begginning! This ain't just a story of two gals being pals ya know.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Serena’s mind went completely blank with the shock. With shaking knees, she sat on the bed. However Hermione managed to know all of that, was it the reason why Dumbledore wanted to protect her? Was it why she attracted the interest of the Department of Mysteries? Was she a seer, after all?

Was Serena already too late to save Hermione _and_ Lily?

Who was Severus Snape?

All the questions swirled around her consciousness, forming a static noise that kept her frozen in her spot.

The door flung open and Hermione marched inside.

“Oh no!” the girl exclaimed, approaching Serena and seeing that she had read most of what was in the Severus Snape section.

That snapped Serena into her feet. Hermione took a step backward, reaching for her wand. Did she think Serena was going to attack her, because of what was in the notebook about this Severus Snape? If that name was a code for Serena, then it was a terrible one. She already got mistaken for a man quite often, for one.

That couldn’t be it. Hermione used real names for everyone else.

With one major problem resolved — Hermione had not been kidnapped after all—, Serena started to think things through at a fast pace, moving on to the next urgent issue.

“I don’t know who this Severus Snape person is, but his loyalties are not mine.” Serena said. “You were going after Pettigrew, were you not?”

Hermione’s arm went limp before it reached her pocket and she nodded.

“Yes.”

“And you were going to do it without telling me. Without telling anyone. Dumbledore couldn’t have known of this if he suggested a Fidelius Charm and let Potter free to do as he pleased.” Serena stated.

She couldn’t be angry at Hermione for not saying anything. It was clearly something beyond Serena’s comprehension. At that point, she could no longer be angry at Hermione for anything at all.

“I’m not supposed to tell anyone. Or do anything about it.”

“But you are going to, I certainly hope.”

Hermione nodded.

“I’m coming with you.” Hermione was about to protest, when Serena cut her off: “This is not a request.”

Serena tossed the notebook aside and took the lead out of the door, nearly jogging, as Hermione followed her tracks.

“Do you have any idea of where we can find Pettigrew?” Hermione whispered to her as she tried to keep up.

“The Malfoy Manor. If he is going to give the Dark Lord the secret, then he will pass through there, sooner or later. And if he is already there, then I suppose we will have to stop him.”

The third option was that he already went to the Manor and it was too late. Serena did not want to think of it.

“How will we get in there?”

“Through the front door.” Serena said. “I’m not sure you recall, but I used to live there.”

OoOoO

Not once did Hermione consider, on her frantic way to her rooms after seeing Serena through the map, that she would help, even though she had revealed saving James the night before in unknown circumstances.

For a while, Hermione considered it was not true, however the part where Dumbledore told James to cast a Fidelius Charm had to be factual. So Serena was truly loyal to the cause, after all…

For how long she would keep that up, though?

The picture in Hermione’s mind became clearer and clearer. She often wondered if something happened to Severus that tipped him over the edge to a downward spiral, and believed he turned cloaks again somewhere along the line. _Because_ of that something, perhaps. It wouldn’t be the first time he resorted to pureblood supremacy because of his anger, would it?

Still, much of it was fuzzy. Hermione was missing information.

But she would have to think of that later.

For the time being, finding Pettigrew was way more relevant. Without Serena’s help, the chances of that happening were slim to none. With her, however, Hermione dared to feel hopeful the Potters would be saved.

Once they were out of the schools’ limits, Serena held her hand, and with a pop, they disappeared, to reappear outside the Manor’s walls.

“How strong is your Disillusionment Spell?”

“I have the cloak with me.” said Hermione, fishing it out of her pocket and covering herself. Serena eyed the apparently empty space, recoiling her hand when her fingertips brushed the fabric.

Then she shuddered and went towards the gates. With a flick of her wand, they vanished, to materialize again once Serena passed the threshold, with Hermione at her heels.

The peacefulness of the manor at that time of the day was unsettling. A major history-altering event loomed near them and, yet, for the Malfoys, it was a regular, quiet morning.

As soon as they walked inside the manor itself and passed through the foyer towards the stairs, a man in fine deep green robes greeted Serena with a tight hug. Hermione could see the resemblance to Sirius Black, although this man was way more feminine, androgynous even — the masculine side of Serena’s coin.

He couldn’t be Lucius Malfoy. Who was he?

“Today is a busy day, I see.” he said. “I just saw someone go up the stairs to the study. Were you summoned?”

“Yes, I… I’m in a bit of a rush at this moment.”

The man nodded, understandingly.

“Well, don’t keep the Dark Lord waiting. We’ll catch up later.”

With that, he left to a door at Hermione’s left, that led to the dining room. Serena exchanged a look with Hermione and climbed up the stairs two steps at a time, while Hermione scrambled to follow and keep the cloak on.

The stairs emerged to a portrait gallery. Serena took a sharp turn right and they passed a few doors, then the hallway took a turn right again. At the end of it, Pettigrew was turning the knob to the very last door. Hermione could feel Voldemort’s foul presence nearby, as the hairs at the back of her neck stood up.

Serena didn’t miss a beat, and whipping her wand at Pettigrew, she whispered:

“Imperio.”

Pettigrew froze on the spot, his mousy face going from anxious to perfectly neutral. His hand left the knob and he turned on his heel, coming in their direction.

“Throw the cloak over Pettigrew.” Serena whispered to Hermione. “Or else I’ll be seen leaving with him.”

Hermione wasn’t too comfortable with the idea of standing so close to Pettigrew — or the fact Serena so readily thought of using an Unforgivable to solve the situation —, but it was a necessary sacrifice.

Once Pettigrew was close enough, Hermione ran to him and threw the cloak over him too. He was shorter than her, and she had to crouch to make sure their ankles were covered. Her heart drummed against her ribcage as she tried not to smell Pettigrew’s strong smelling sweat.

Either they were going to save the Potters that day, or they were going to die trying. If they were caught, they wouldn’t leave the Manor alive. Their lives depended on the sheer dumb luck of being able to walk out without being seen.

Serena tried to walk slower, to keep a rhythm Hermione could follow without the cloak slipping. She seemed to be calm, and just walking leisurely, however her eyes darted from place to place, unrestful.

But they walked down the stairs, and back through the foyer, without meeting anyone. Then they crossed the front garden towards the gates, that melted away for them. Serena turned to the left, so they could hide behind the walls limiting the property.

Hermione took off the cloak and put it away, drawing deep breaths.

Serena took her hand once more, and said:

“Hold on tight to Pettigrew. I don’t care if he gets splinched, but we need to know what else he was telling the Dark Lord.”

Hermione did as she was told. The three of them reappeared at the living room of a shabby apartment. The furniture was all lined up against the walls. A shelf was broken, and there was a blood stain on floor near it.

In the center, there was only a chair.

Pettigrew sat on the chair, and Serena bind him with ropes after breaking his wand in half and throwing the pieces aside. Then she proceeded to ward the apartment in every conceivable way, while Hermione went towards Pettigrew and ripped his sleeve open to reveal a Dark Mark.

She couldn’t feel relieved at all. It was just the beginning. If Harry wasn’t going to be made the Chosen One, then Voldemort wouldn’t vanish, and the war would continue.

“How could they not know?” she said, to herself mostly, though Serena replied:

“All it takes is being above suspicion.”

There was something different about Serena once she stepped closer to Pettigrew. Although she was still, red-hot fury burned in her eyes, distorting her face ever so slightly.

Serena undid the curse on Pettigrew, and he wheezed, looking around in consternation.

“Congratulations.” said Serena in a low, cold tone that made Hermione’s stomach churn. “It seems you got yourself caught.”

“C-caught? What is… What is happening?” Pettigrew struggled against his binds and looked down to see his bare Dark Mark. “Listen, this is a mistake! I-I…”

Out of nowhere, Serena tipped his chair with a kick and he fell to the floor, with no way of softening the blow to his head. She crouched in front of him, while Hermione stepped backwards slowly, feeling the very temperature of the room drop.

 “What is happening… Is that you failed to deliver the Potters to the Dark Lord. You somehow convinced them to make you their Secret Keeper, and you were the one that has been leaking information of the Order.”

Pettigrew exploded in hollow laughter, and Hermione watched, horrified, as Serena stood up again and kicked him right in the gut. He grunted in response, but then kept on laughing.

“How can you laugh about this, you filthy, disgusting, vile…” Each adjective meant a strong kick in Pettigrew’s stomach. Serena was thin to the point of seeming frail, but she was out of her mind, and the anger fueled her kicks. “Traitor!”

“You’re not going to tell me…” Pettigrew said once he was done laughing. “That you’re still hung up on Lily after all this time? You know you don’t have what she wants. You’ll never have it.”

Hermione gasped loudly and covered her mouth with her hands. Everything clicked into place.

So it was all because of Lily.

Severus’ downfall had been her death. Without her, he had no reason to be loyal to Dumbledore anymore. It was why he was so angry at the Marauders, and at Harry — they were all reasons why Lily ended up dead. If James and Sirius had not decided to swap the Secret Keeper, if Harry had not been born at all in the first place…

The gasp made Serena finally pay attention to Hermione, and she rushed towards the dumbstruck girl:

“Listen, I can—”

Hermione shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. She took one step back, then another, then she turned on her heels and ran off the apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all be sure to check out the prologue for the part 2 of this fic I posted! I'm gonna finish this one first though lol


	17. Chapter Sixteen

By the time Serena made sure there was no conceivable way Pettigrew could escape her apartment, Hermione was already long gone. The upside of living in a shady part of London was that the loud apparation noises could be mistaken for gunshots, so Serena didn’t wait to get herself to the edges of Hogwarts and make haste to Hermione’s room.

Well, not so fast. The first morning period had ended, and the hallways were swarming with students who stared at her and whispered amongst themselves, wondering what kind of health issue she was having that rendered her unable to teach lessons, but allowed her to march at a fast pace to the upper levels of the castle.

At least the staff’s rooms were well hidden, otherwise it would be quite the sight for the students to see Serena knocking on Hermione’s door, only to hear a muffled:

“Go away!”

Serena rested her forehead against the door and stayed that way for a moment. She wasn’t exactly sure for what she should be apologizing for, that time, because she got multiple things wrong. Perhaps her fit of anger upon facing Pettigrew scared Hermione — who already thought she was dangerous — or maybe it was that rat’s line about Lily.

It could have been true, a while back, but not then. For sure not then.

She knocked on the door again.

“I hope you know there are still things to do about this. We need to speak to Dumbledore.” she said. “It’s not safe for them to stay where they are.”

Even though that was true — the Potters had to be relocated again — Serena felt bad that she had to resort to that to get Hermione to speak to her. 

And it worked.

The door flung open and Hermione showed up. Her eyes were red, but they were vicious, and her lips were pressed in a thin line.

“We can’t speak to Dumbledore.” she said, stepping away from the door and going to sit at her desk, where she furiously wrote on the notebook Serena read earlier.

Serena closed the door behind herself and kept her distance.

“We have to. Pettigrew can’t stay at my apartment. He has the Mark, remember? The Dark Lord will notice that he is missing. And the Potters need to go somewhere else. He’s the only one that can help.”

“You don’t get it! I should _not_ be doing this.”

“Saving lives? Why not?”

“Because tampering with time is dangerous!” Hermione yelled, throwing her quill aside.

She was too uneasy to keep sitting and stood up to face Serena, who could not make sense of her words.

“Tampering with time? I thought you were a seer. Or an arithmancer.”

“I’m the polar opposite of a seer. I… I know all of this that has happened and will happen because I already lived through it. It was 1997 when I suffered an accident with a time turner. I was classmates with Harry Potter, Lily’s son.”

“You’re a time traveler?!” Serena exclaimed. “But who is this Severus Snape on your notes?”

“He’s you.” Hermione said, quietly, her gaze distant, and she hugged herself.

“Will you please start making sense?”

“I didn’t travel to _my_ past. It seems like I fell to the past of another reality. In mine, you happen to be a man. Severus.”

Serena pinched the bridge of her nose, with her head spinning with all that happened within the past several hours. She was not a man, and could never even get close of being one. No man would have gone through what she did in her lifetime.

“And I couldn’t figure him out, you know. He’s a terrible, cruel teacher. Harry always thought he was a Death Eater, and I thought it couldn’t be so, he saved Harry so many times, right? I was wrong. From what I can tell, he allied himself with Dumbledore to save Lily, but once she died, there was no reason left for him to keep his pledge, and many more to go back to where he was. He _hated_ Harry. I bet he wished Harry had not been born.”

“I’m _not_ him.” Serena protested.

“You could very well turn out to be an exact replacement.”

“But I’m not going to! Hermione, I haven’t done all these things he did. I… I have defected because I learned Lily was in danger, yes. She was my best and only friend for quite some time. I care if she is alive or dead, and I probably always will. It was not the only reason, though. I didn’t become a Death Eater because I wanted; I thought I had no other choice! I was afraid for my life, and I had no one who would help me out. Lucius and Narcissus were the only ones who did. Even if all they wanted was to groom me into becoming a Death Eater.”

With that Hermione drew a deep breath, but said nothing, so Serena continued:

“I’m not trying to speak for this man you’ve known. We are not the same person. We could never be. I sincerely doubt he would be kicked out of his home for being a lesbian, for one.”

That seemed to have gotten through Hermione, because she finally looked Serena in the eye and said:

“So Lucius and Narcissus are a couple.”

“Yes.”

“In my world, there is a Narcisa Malfoy. They have a son, Draco. He was my classmate too. As vile as you would expect.” Hermione said. Serena thought she was rambling, but, as it turned out, she had a point: “Mudblood is a frequent word in his vocabulary. And you? Did you call Lily a mudblood?”

This again.

OoOoO

Hermione stepped away when Serena got closer to her:

“Unfortunately, yes. I was young, stupid, and had no idea the weight the word carried. I… I wanted to hurt Lily, and that what was came to mind. I know better than that now. This was… Six years ago! There hasn’t been a single day since then that I have not regretted it. Please, I… I wish there were enough words to express how sorry I am for it and for everything else I’ve done.”

Serena was on the verge of tearing up. Hermione couldn’t help but to feel moved, neither could she help believing it, too. Serena was not Severus: that was why Hermione developed feelings for her in the first place.

If it was all an act, then it was a perfect one.

“I believe you.”

“You… You do?”

“Of course I do!” Hermione exclaimed, and cupped Serena’s face.

She did not miss the fact Pettigrew was only caught with Serena’s help. Without it, Hermione would have gone on a fool’s errand. She had thirty minutes at most to catch him, when she thought she had hours. Had Serena not looking for her after she left, then everything would happen just as she knew.

It was no use _not_ trusting Serena. At least when it came to protecting Lily.

“Do you still have feelings for her?” Hermione asked. “If you do, then I deserve to know.”

“Like I said, I will always care for Lily at some capacity. It doesn’t mean I still think of her in such a way.”

Hermione nodded. She could understand it. She would always care for Harry and Ron, even if, for some reason, their friendship ended — which it did, in a certain way, because they were in two different realities.

And she thought she had been in love with Ron. In hindsight, maybe that was not it, but in the situation, it sure felt like something close to what she thought it would feel like. It was just… Not right.

Not as right as it felt to be with Serena, however dangerous and unadvisable it was.

“Isn’t it obvious you are all I can think about as of late?” Serena added in a murmur.  

Hermione’s heart missed its beat. She never fully considered Serena would have feelings for her — once again she mistook Serena for Severus. Yes, he thought Hermione was an insufferable know-it-all who only knew how to memorize and regurgitate information on command. It didn’t mean Serena thought the same.

For all it was worth, Hermione didn’t think Serena was a ticking time-bomb walking around with black robes, either.

She kissed Serena, hard, and broke the kiss to say:

“I suppose we do have to talk to Dumbledore now.”

If she was going to throw caution out of the window, then she might as well do it thoroughly.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Lily felt sick to her stomach. James and Sirius paced around the living room like caged animals, while Remus stood by a window, overlooking the street outside.

Something serious had happened, and she had no clue what.

Of course, James had not been honest with her. He stormed off after their last fight, only to show up a day later, telling her he had direct orders from Dumbledore to cast a Fidelius Charm around the place, that it would make them much safer, and Lily did not have to worry, he would take care of it himself.

After years of dealing with him, the signs of a fabricated tale were crystal clear. It was too vague.

And right the morning after, Dumbledore sent them a patronus, telling them to ward the place even more, that Sirius and Remus were going there to meet them, and they had to stay put, wands at ready.

Harry remained blissfully unaware, taking a nap in his room. Lily didn’t know what was going on, but not blissfully so.

“James.” she said, playing with her wedding ring.

“What?”

“This is your last chance to tell me what truly happened.”

“Nothing happened.” he replied.

Beads of sweat were forming on his hairline. He kept adjusting his glasses higher up because his face was so sweaty. Remus shot him a disapproving glance.

Lily smirked to herself. James gave himself away way too easily now, but if he didn’t, Remus would.

He, in fact, stirred in his place, and said:

“Here comes Dumbledore. And he’s not alone.”

James went to see the window and slapped its frame, furious.

“What are _they_ doing here?”

“Who is here?” Lily asked, standing up, but the front door opened, and Dumbledore walked inside by himself. He closed the door behind himself way too fast, though.

“I hope you’ve had a pleasant morning.” he said, and there was nothing of the cheerful Headmaster Lily knew. He was stern, his blue eyes icy. “I came here to let you know your position has been compromised, and I will be setting up a portkey to a new location.”

“…Compromised? How? Isn’t… Isn’t Sirius here? He’s our Secret Keeper.”

Dumbledore sent James a condemning look.

“He is, indeed, here. Your observation skills do not fail you, but it seems… You haven’t been told the truth. Your Secret Keeper is Peter Pettigrew. He was not someone who deserved the trust of his friends. Somewhere along the line, he was branded a Death Eater. Thus, after becoming your Secret Keeper, the natural next step would be to deliver you and Harry in a silver platter to gain Voldemort’s favor.”

“What?!”

“No need to worry. He has been dealt with, but it is safer if you move again, to a location where I am its Secret Keeper.”

Lily just sighed and threw her hands up. She didn’t have it in her to be angry anymore about all the lies, and the seemingly heroic stunts. Her anger had been entirely sapped, giving place to a cold apathy.

“Interesting.” she said, and took off her wedding ring, letting it fall to the floor. “If so, I request to be moved alone.”

“You can’t be serious!” James exclaimed.

“Did you know of this exchange, Dumbledore?” asked Lily, ignoring her former husband.

“I’m afraid not.”

“The less people knew, the better!” Sirius said.

“All this secrecy nearly got Harry and I killed!”

Dumbledore watched it all and sighed minutely. He took an old boot out of his pocket and placed it in the middle of the room.

“The port key should be activated in a couple of hours. In the meantime, I brought over two people of the Order to stay and watch over the house while the preparations are made.” he said.

“So that’s why they are here?” James sneered.

“Who’s they?!”

“James, don’t make this more difficult than it has to be.” Dumbledore warned.

“Very well, then. I won’t. Just so you know, Lily, your dear friend Serena has become a Death Eater.” he sneered before making his leave.

OoOoO

Serena jumped when she saw James banging the front door behind himself. Then he glared at her and Hermione, who were waiting Dumbledore’s signal by the front porch, and made his way towards the edges of the limits of Fidelius spell.

“Hey!” Serena yelled, running to him. “Where are you going?”

“What it looks like I’m doing? I’m leaving!”

“You can’t leave!”

“I can do whatever the bloody hell I want!”

But then he was lifted on the air, by the ankle. His wand fell right underneath him while he tried to struggle against the spell. The Levicorpus spell. Serena looked over her shoulder and saw Hermione approaching them.

“What you’re doing? Put me down!”

“He knows you’re a Death Eater, right?” Hermione whispered to Serena.

“He does. How, exactly, do you know this spell?”

“My compliments to the Half-Blood Prince.” she replied with a curt bow, a devious smirk gracing her face.

It went away as soon as they both heard the front door opening again, and Sirius coming at them. He didn’t have his wand raised.

“What are you two doing?!”

“Put. Me. Down!”

“He can’t leave.” Serena said, turning her back to James. “He knows too much. I won’t allow him to put my life on the line. It seems to me you know it, too.”

Then she looked over the front door. Lily was staring at the whole scene, with Dumbledore and Remus beside her. She was paper white, eyes open wide, hands covering her mouth. The Headmaster squeezed her shoulder and lead her back inside.

Serena swallowed dry and returned to the situation at hand. 

“You are not going to hold us hostage!” Sirius argued.

“And do you want the Order to lose its only spy because you two are too stupid to not get caught?” Serena replied, through gritted teeth, a fingertip digging into Sirius’ chest.

“Erase their memories.” Hermione suggested, her voice barely above a whisper.

Sirius turned to her.

“What?”

She hesitated, then flicked her wand to have James fall on the grass, with a muffled thud.

“I mean… The two of you learned of this between last night and this morning, right? If your memories are erased from these past several hours, then it will be like James left the house, and you two just got too drunk. If you don’t know Serena is a double agent, then you’ll be free to do as you please.”

Serena wouldn’t have thought of that.

James stood up, slowly, adjusting his glasses.

“But then I won’t know where Lily is.”

“It seems to me that is precisely what she wants.” Serena remarked.

“You’re so happy about this, I bet.” James said. “You know, it doesn’t mean she will come running to your arms just because she doesn’t want to be married to me anymore. She will come to her senses. You don’t have _this_.”

Then he grabbed his crotch. Serena felt her anger rising up, but forced herself to swallow it down. Hermione didn’t deserve to see that again.

And Serena was caught entirely blindsided when Hermione punched James square on the nose. For a girl her size, she had a terrific punch.

“Not everything is about your insignificant junk!” she spat at him.

Serena didn’t think knowing how to punch would be that much of an attractive trait, but it was. She reached out for Hermione, holding her hand. James ran to cower beside Sirius.

“Hermione, it’s fine.”

“It’s not fine! It’s disgusting!” she exclaimed, but turned to James again. “At any rate… Is it a deal or not? You will forget everything, and you’ll be free to go without ruining our chances of winning this war.”

“Moony knows too.” said James.

“You can’t be serious!” Sirius argued. “We can’t let them erase our memories.”

“Listen. I care for Snape as much as you do, but I don’t want to have to be stuck, hiding like a coward for the rest of the war and it so happens Snape is the only spy we’ve got.”

Sirius nodded, with a sneer.

“I suppose.”

“I’ll get Remus.” Hermione volunteered.

“Please do.” Serena replied, knowing she fell for the right woman.

OoOoO

Hermione stomped her way to the Potters’ living room. Lily was sitting on a couch, with Dumbledore and Remus. She had to stop at stare at Harry’s mother for a while. Lily could be very pretty, if her green eyes weren’t empty, and her face wasn’t hollow.

“Remus, you need to go outside for a bit.”

“What’s happening?” Lily said.

“I’m not sure—"

“Lily knows.” Dumbledore said, and Hermione nodded.

“Well, James and Sirius want to leave. I thought… If we obliviated them, then…”

“They won’t remember Serena is a double agent.” Lily finished her thought.

“Exactly.”

Remus blinked and stared at a spot on the floor for a moment.

“I suppose that is the wisest choice. I will go talk to them. Good bye. And, Lily?”

“Yes?”

“Take care.”

With that, he left.

“Please, sit down.” Lily offered, turning her void eyes to Hermione. “You’re her girlfriend, right? Serena’s?”

Dumbledore stood up to leave as well.  

“I’ll leave you in good hands, Lily. I suppose I have yet another knot to untangle.”

The two of them were left alone. Hermione did as she was told and sat beside Lily, feeling a bit shy.

“I think girlfriend is a strong word.” she said.

Lily raised both her brows and smirked slightly.

“Right. If you figured out about the map and James’ cloak, Serena must be head over heels for you. What is your name?”

“Hermione. Hermione Granger.”

She had to admit her hesitation upon the idea of having Serena meet Lily again. Though, she supposed, if it would ruin things and have Serena running right back to her former best friend, then things were already ruined.

There was no way Hermione could ever compete.  

“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Lily. I’m back to Lily Evans, I suppose.”

There was a moment of awkward silence, interrupted by the sound of a babbling toddler.

“Is that Harry?” Hermione exclaimed after a short gasp, forgetting about the whole predicament she was in. “Can I see him?”

 

 

 


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Serena had never seen the Headmaster that furious before, and she couldn’t help smirking to herself. He didn’t lose his cool, obviously, but it was possible to feel the anger burning behind his nonchalant façade.

“Ah, it rather seems we have reached an impasse, did we not?” said he, approaching Serena, Potter and Black with Lupin at his heels.

“There is no impasse. Either they’ll submit themselves to obliviation, or they won’t be able to walk free.” Serena replied. “It has been proven time and time again they are untrustworthy and unskilled, and I don’t particularly care either you think it is a viable course of action or not. This is my very life we are discussing here, and I know for a fact I can’t trust these three with it.”

Black stirred in his spot and raised his wand at Serena.

“You shut your mouth, you—”

“Is this the way you treat the person who just saved your best friend and the Chosen One from your own stupidity?” Serena replied, going back a step, without even flinching.

She had the upper hand, for once, and sure she was going to bask in it.

“Sirius, stand down.” Ordered Dumbledore. “You have done enough harm as is.”

Serena smirked smugly to Black and turned to Dumbledore:

“Will I do it, or shall I give you the honors?”

 “You have to stay here and keep watch.” he said, after hesitating some.

Serena grabbed his arm and stared deep into his eyes.

“Promise me you’ll do it. You know it’s the only way to keep me safe.” she said, and when he didn’t reply, she squeezed his arm harder: “This is not your neck you’re risking. _Promise me_.”

Deep down, she feared that Dumbledore still had a sliver of trust in Black, Potter and Lupin, and he’d try to find a roundabout way of solving the situation that didn’t involve making them completely unaware of everything that happened in the past several hours.

It wouldn’t work.

“Of course.”

“Good.” Serena replied, letting him go and then she turned on her heels to go inside the house, though she rather wanted to stay outside.

She didn’t want to face Lily. Not like that. Not when it was her fault Lily had to be in such a situation in the first place. Now that the situation was presented to her, she realized there was no way she could look Lily in the eyes.

And Hermione… She didn’t know, did she? Despite knowing an awful lot about that man, Severus Snape, it was clear that was something about him — about Serena — she wasn’t aware of. If not, it would have been on her little notebook.

When Serena’s hand touched the knob, Dumbledore apparated away with her three schoolyard foes, so she stepped away from the door and went to lean on the railings of the porch instead.

She didn’t have to be inside the house to keep watch.

OoOoO

“Such a handsome boy!” cooed Hermione, lifting Harry from his crib.

He had vibrant green eyes, like his mother’s. Like the Harry Hermione once knew. Except this one wouldn’t grow up neglected, without loving parents. She tried to hold back the tears as she rocked him, with a big smile on her face.

“You like babies?” asked Lily, observing her from the door of the room.

Hermione’s ear grew a bit red. Sure it was an overzealous reaction to a toddler she never saw before.

“Y-yes, I… A little bit.”

“Well, good thing he likes you. _Someone_ has to keep him entertained while I pack. Come on, bring a toy.”

On her way out, Hermione picked a toy on the floor and followed Lily into her bedroom.

Lily put an open bag on top of the bed, and then opened a drawer on the dresser in the room. It was filled with men’s clothes. James’ clothes.

“I won’t be needing _those_.” she mumbled to herself.

With everything that happened, Hermione completely forgot to register Lily and James probably split up. She sat down on the bed with a distracted Harry on her lap.

“Are the two of you…”

“Completely through? Yes, we are.” Lily said, and closed the drawer with a violent jerk.

They seemed to be so happy together on the photos Hermione saw of them, in her world. Then again, photos didn’t capture the whole story.

“Is everything alright?”

“Besides the fact James didn’t tell me Sirius wasn’t our Secret Keeper? Not really. It was just the cherry on top of the god forsaken cake!”

The sound of people apparating far away briefly interrupted the exchange. Lily sighed and sat down, defeated. Only then Hermione noticed the delicate golden cross on her neck.

“I’m sorry.” Hermione said.

“Don’t be. I should have known. I should have…” she sighed. “I should have listened to Serena. She tried to warn me, and I thought she just jealous. I thought many terrible things of her. Some of them may have come true, but she still had a point. I thought James would change.”

Hermione swallowed hard. Serena _did_ become a Death Eater and she _had_ called Lily a mudblood. If Hermione were Lily… She wasn’t sure she’d find that much forgiveness in herself.

“It’s not your fault. It’s not wrong to believe that people change and trust that they will do better.”

“Is that what you think of Serena?” Lily inquired.

“Against better judgement, I’m afraid this is the case.” Hermione replied. “I hope not to be mistaken.”

Lily nodded, thoughtful, playing with her necklace.

“For all my opinion is worth, I don’t think you are. By the way, I saw through the living room window when I was coming here, that Serena’s outside. I would be thankful if you persuaded her to at least say hello. I wrote her a letter, and she didn’t reply. I can only assume she doesn’t want to speak to me.”

Hermione haven’t heard of that letter, though she left Harry with his mother and left without commentary. Serena was indeed overlooking the horizon on the front porch, arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Won’t you come inside?”  

“I can watch the house just fine from here.”

“Serena.” Hermione said, touching Serena’s back. “Lily wants to talk to you. She said you ignored a letter she wrote to you.”

When Serena locked eyes with Hermione, there was an immense amount of guilt in her gaze.

“Listen. She knows you’re a double agent. She still wants you to at least say hello to her.”

“I can’t. I can’t look her in the face. I can’t even look at _you_ , right now.”

“Why not? What’s wrong?”

“You don’t know. She doesn’t know. The things I’ve done because of the Dark Mark. Some things cannot be taken back, or forgiven.”

“Like… Like what? What have you done?”

Serena studied Hermione for a moment.

“It never occurred to me until now that you have no clue I am the one who leaked the prophecy to the Dark Lord. All this that is happening? It is entirely my fault.”

“O-oh.”

“I’m certain this will change your mind about me. I don’t care. I wouldn’t bear to receive your affections while knowing you would despise me if you knew the whole truth. Even though I didn’t become a Death Eater on my own accord, I have served the Dark Lord well.”

That was a big ice bucket thrown on top of Hermione’s head. She stepped away, overwhelmed by yet another twist to Serena’s tale.

“And you didn’t care about the _children_ who would die because of it?”

“Not enough. I cared more about the fact the Dark Lord would kill me if it ever came to his notice I have heard of such a prophecy and kept it to myself. Though I could have simply not eavesdropped. The only thing I was supposed to do was to apply to a position at Hogwarts. There is nothing I regret more. I’m sorry I didn’t come clean about this earlier. It didn’t occur to me you weren’t aware.”

“I really wasn’t.” Hermione replied and swallowed dry. “But, you know what? You’ll do better. I trust you’ll do. Don’t disappoint me.”

“Never.”  

In lieu of trusting Serena to the point of lunacy, Hermione said:

“Go talk to Lily. I think she needs a friend. I’ll stay here and watch the grass grow for you.”

She was surprised by receiving the tightest hug she had ever gotten; Serena was holding on for her dear life.

“I feel like I love you already. I hope that does not scare you.”

Hermione relaxed into Serena’s arms, starting to feel like she found home in them.

“Not really.”

“Good.”

Serena let go of her and stroked her face once before going inside.

Though there was plenty on her mind, with all that happened, Hermione felt at ease. Harry was saved. Lily was saved. Pettigrew was sealed away in a chamber at Hogwarts — that would have had housed the Philosopher’s Stone, many years later.

She took her notebook out of her pocket and flipped through the pages. The last section was about the horcruxes. Tom Riddle’s diary, the Salazar locket, the Gaunt ring… They were still out there, and there were horcruxes yet to be discovered.  

The Order was nearly crushed, and without the fateful night of the Potters’ death, then Voldemort would not fall. The war was far from being over.

Hermione, however, dared to hope she had a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 18 chapters later, the plot actually begins lol


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Being the culprit of the chase against Lily’s son wasn’t the only thing making Serena nervous about meeting her old friend. She stared at her reflex on the glass of a window in the living room and swallowed dry.

Her hair had been growing out ever since the day they parted ways. Throughout her Masters, she wore feminine robes, painted her nails, did everything by the book, and it made her miserable. Nothing could disguise the way she behaved, anyway.

It was useless, and painful, and when Serena learned she would be teaching at Hogwarts, she quit trying to be someone she was not. The students would know. The staff knew. Why put herself through so much trouble?

Meeting women just like her — and women who liked women like her — in bars helped, as well.

She learned not to care if people found her disgusting, confusing, a man, an aberration, or all of it, but the way she could see the mild disgust in Lily’s eyes hurt her back then, and it would hurt again, even if Serena knew there was nothing wrong with her.

But… It wasn’t as if they would stay in each other’s lives. She wouldn’t be able to hide the fact she leaked the prophecy for very long.

It was just a hello.

So Serena took a deep breath and finished making her way to the bedroom. The door was open ajar and the sound of Lily cooing her son leaked to the hallway. Serena knocked softly on the door and opened it, inch by inch.

Lily dropped the shirt she was folding when she looked up. She had lost some of her youth glow. Her once bright red hair was dull, and her face looked defeated. She was still just as beautiful, though it was like a light had gone out inside of her.

“Hello.” said Serena, arms crossed in front of her very much flat chest.

“Hi. You finally grew out your hair, I see.”

Serena never actually wore her hair short. It had always been shoulder-length, and Lily though it would make her look more like a girl if it was on her waist. A fool’s errand, of course.

“I don’t think it had the effect you desired.”

“It certainly did not.” Lily replied, with a short-lived laughter, then she added: “So when are you going to ask Hermione to be your girlfriend?”

Serena blinked, without reaction, for a moment.

“E-excuse me?”

“I’m just saying, you should go for it. She’s a very sweet girl. Harry liked her. _I_ liked her. I’m not sure if you care what I think, but…”

“Of course I care about what you think.” Serena replied. “I ignored your letter because at the time you didn’t know I was a double agent. It would be too dangerous for me to simply reveal to you, especially knowing you were at risk because of Potter. And it wouldn’t bode well for me to pretend that I’m not…”

“A Death Eater.”

“Yes.”

A moment of silence passed.

“All that matters to me is that you found your way now.” Lily said. She closed the distance between them and gave Serena a tight hug. “I missed you so much.”

Serena returned the hug, finally comfortable with doing so. She always felt like it was wrong for her to show affection that way, because Lily didn’t know of her feelings — for Lily in special, and for girls in general.

When Lily came to know, the hugs, locking arms, sleepovers, all of that stopped. It had been somewhat of a relief for Serena.

The real relief was being able to hug her best friend and not feel disgusted with herself.

“So did I.”

Lily let go of her and gave her a good look.

“You look fantastic. I bet all your students are afraid of you.”

“Somewhat.” Serena said, trying not to look so satisfied with herself for it.

It brought her no small amount of satisfaction to frighten children; she felt a bit sorry for the students that would have to put up with her while the war lasted.  

“I hope Harry _isn’t_.” said Lily and she turned to pick up the young boy playing by himself on the bed. “He’s not shy, but he hasn’t been around many people.”

Serena had not once in her lifetime held a baby in her arms, however that seemed like a fitting moment to start; she remembered what Hermione had said about Severus, how he hated Harry, and Serena didn’t want to be that way. It wasn’t his fault his father was a piece of shit.

Moreover, she wouldn’t want to get herself indisposed with Lily’s son. She didn’t like children — obviously —, though she would try her best to like this particular child.

Harry was a bit heavier than she expected, though at least he curiously stared at her, chewing on his toy, without crying, thankfully. That would have been too much to handle.   

“He looks like his father.” said Serena.

“That’s unfortunate.” quipped Lily, reading Serena’s mind. “At least he has my eyes.”

OoOoO

Hermione could breathe a little easier when she set her foot on Hogwarts’ grounds, not realizing how much the impending death of Harry’s parents weighed down on her shoulders. Well, it was still a possibility, though at least she did what she could to prevent it — and Lily was very much safe, anyway.

Voldemort was powerful, though he was not all-knowing. It seemed like he didn’t even know Pettigrew had gone missing yet. He didn’t know of Hermione. Most importantly, he was not aware Lily and Harry moved.

Another burden had been relieved off Hermione’s shoulders, and it had a name: Serena Snape.

She was still surly, and mean, all of the things that made Hermione despise Severus. Her tender heart had not been shattered to dust, however, and rekindling her friendship with Lily made it grow even softer.

Hermione caught her playing with Harry when she thought no one was looking, while they were trying to help Lily pack up before the port key activated.

And even though they were back at the castle, where they should behave themselves, Serena held Hermione’s hand, and walked her to her rooms.

“Can I come in?” Serena asked.

Hermione smiled to her and nodded, opening the door. There was no reason to keep her out anymore. She pushed Serena to the bed and straddled her.

“That is new.” Serena said.

“What?”

“I’m not usually on my back.”

“Some things change.”

Hermione got her wand out of her pocket, and ran the tip down the long row of buttons in Serena’s robes to pop them open without all the handiwork. She had to admit she had been a bit shy, still. Much of it had to do with the fact she used to be afraid of what Serena could become.

Not anymore.

She threw her wand aside and leaned forward to kiss Serena on the lips while her hands worked on undoing the shirt, and unbuckling the belt. Then she licked her fingertips and slid them inside Serena’s boxers.

Serena became wet, and pliable, and Hermione put a couple of fingers inside as her tongue circled a nipple; there was something quite indescribable about the feel of warm flesh wrapped around her, pulsating with desire.

Hermione hadn’t gotten a taste of Serena yet, though. So she stood up to remove the pants and the underwear — somewhere along the line Serena had taken off the shoes —, slowly, teasing, enjoying herself, making her victim wait for it.

And so she climbed on top of Serena, trailing her kisses from the sternum, to the navel, to the inner thigh, until she finally traced the tip of her tongue all around Serena’s sex, getting a feel of the wet folds, and the salty taste of the juices.

Serena let a stifled moan escape her lips, her hips bucking upwards.

“Will you _please_ just get to it?” she complained.

“Don’t be rude.” Hermione retorted, before sucking lightly on the clitoris.

“I said please.”

Fair enough.

It took her a while to figure out the right moves, but soon enough Serena would cum against her lips, and Hermione would return to her usual position, lying on her back on the bed, while Serena stripped her and spread her legs to return the favor.

By the time they were done with each other, they were already late for the Halloween Feast.

“Will you come to my rooms after the feast?” asked Serena, buttoning up her robes to leave first.

“Of course.” replied Hermione, as she stretched on the bed like a lazy cat.

Serena leaned over her and gave her a peck on the lips before leaving.

Tired, Hermione struggled a bit to stand and get herself dressed. The day seemed to have lasted a whole century… Still, her hunger spoke higher than her exhaustion.

Before leaving, though, there was something she had to do.

She opened her drawers and put all the charts she made about Serena on top of her desk, in a neat pile. With a flick of her wand, she vanished them all.


	21. Chapter Twenty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excuse me for this badly edited chapter. I'm nearing the end of my semester and I'm trying to upload as much as I can before I'm forced to take a break on writing this fic (fanfic ain't putting food on the table lol)

_“At least…” James pleaded, in a whisper. “At least let me remember that she left me.”_

James woke up with a throbbing headache. He groaned with the pain and tried to turn to his side, at first thinking that he was on his bed; he fell to the floor instead, face-first into his glasses. He put them on and the blurry surroundings turned crystal clear: he was in Sirius’ flat.

The owner of the place was snoring by an armchair, and Remus occupied the other couch.

“W-what happened?”

He was waiting for that moment in his hungover that he remembered of what happened. His mind was coming up blank, though. A strange type of blank, at that. It was not unusual for him to drink so much that his memories vanished, however it would seem like no time had passed.

This time, he could _feel_ something was missing from his memories. Maybe it had to do with the weird nightmare he had, a mismatched collage of flashing moments.

Lily throwing away the wedding ring, and telling Dumbledore she wanted to be moved alone. James leaving in a fury.

But… It had to be a nightmare, right?

Remus stirred on his spot and started to wake up, as well.

“How much did we drink last night?” he muttered.

“I don’t even recall us drinking.” James replied. “Did you have weird nightmares?”

“Like what?”

“I… I don’t know. Just… Strange.”

“No. I don’t remember anything.”

James sat back down, holding his head in his hands, trying to make sense of his nightmares. His plea to Dumbledore to let him _remember_. What had been done to him?

Deep down, though, he knew these were no simple nightmares. He remembered that Lily told him to leave, which he did, and then went to the nearest bar he could find to drink by himself. His concrete memories stopped there.

The room danced around him in a slow orbit, and his head was about to explode. He put himself on his feet and went to the door anyway. He needed to go back home. To see if Lily and Harry were well.

“Where are you going?” asked Remus, through half-closed lids.

“I’ll just go check something. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Alright.”

With that, Remus went right back to sleep. James walked out of the flat, to start climbing down the two sets of the stairs to the ground floor, and then made his way out to the street.

The light of the setting sun aggravated his headache, and he was nearly blind as he walked to the empty alley he often used to apparate. He didn’t see the two dark figures following him, until it was too late, and they grabbed him by the arms and apparated with him in tow.

His glasses were lost somewhere along the way. He couldn’t make much of his surroundings as he was dragged, first through a garden, then by dark wooden floors, until he was dropped off in an empty room, with only one light source above him.

Sight was not necessary for him to know he was not alone. A dark presence loomed in the shadows, circling him, observing in silence.

“Who are you?” yelled James, in a futile attempt of standing up.

“You know who I am.” said the presence.

Indeed.

James never saw him, or heard his voice, but he knew.

Another thing he knew? He wasn’t going to get out of that room alive.

Voldemort stepped into the light and grabbed James by the chin. Not even his handsome face could disguise the empty eyes of his.

James spat on Voldemort’s face.

“I’m not going to give you anything.”

Voldemort touched the wet spots on his cheeks and smiled.

“Allow me to disagree about that.”

James dropped to his knees, the sudden presence of someone going through his memories overwhelming him. Voldemort spent what felt like hours shuffling through everything. When he finally retreated, he said:

“You want to know what happened to you, my dear child? It seems to me, your memories have been wiped by Dumbledore. Now, now, his spells may be strong, but your mind? Your mind is _weak_. I will break it and look through the pieces until I find what that old hag is trying to hide from me.”

“I won’t let you!” James said through gritted teeth, falling to the floor.

“I don’t need your permission.” Replied Voldemort as he stepped on James’ cheek. “Crucio!”

OoOoO

Lily was right about one thing, despite being wrong about many others.

Serena _should_ just tie the knot already. She was in too deep and didn’t want to be all alone in the depths. Again. If asking to make their relationship official would send Hermione running, then… It wasn’t meant to be.

Which would hurt, terribly, more than Serena could ever imagine, even if she would understand it. Hermione was a muggleborn, and like it or not, she had a previous, terrible history with Serena, even if it was not truly Serena saying and doing those terrible things.

It could have been, at least in some ways. There was no denying she was not meant to be teaching children, for one. Not being utterly miserable helped; if Lily died, certainly that would be Serena’s state.

Though Serena felt somewhat confident about where Hermione stood on the issue, and she wanted to make it special. Before Hermione arrived, she lit up some candles, got some wine ready, and even managed to get ahold of a red rose — that she stole from Sprout’s private greenhouse.

Asking nicely for anything was a skill Serena had not yet perfected.

“What is all this for?” Hermione asked as soon as she walked inside. Serena was about to get nervous and stammer something terrible, but Hermione wrapped her arms around Serena’s waist, running her hands up the back. “My birthday is only in May.”

“I wanted to make tonight a bit special.” said Serena, then.

“Really? What for?”

“Because I wanted to ask—”

The burning pain in her left arm interrupted the question, and Serena never felt the Dark Mark hurt that much. She was in _trouble_. In hindsight, she should have seen that coming. Alecto went missing. Pettigrew went missing. The trail the Dark Lord had on the Potter had grown cold. It was a miracle it took that long for things to explode on her face.

Serena stepped away from Hermione.

“Go see Dumbledore. I’m being summoned.”

Hermione was not at all stupid, given the terribly pained expression in her face.

“Can’t you just not go?”

“He’ll keep torturing with the Dark Mark if I disobey his orders. Besides, if there’s a chance of me walking out of this while maintaining my cover, no matter how slim… I have to give it a try.”

“You’ll die if you go!”

Serena nodded, gravely, rethinking her instance on asking Hermione to be her girlfriend. So silly of her to think she could afford having that kind of closeness with someone. She was expendable, walking on the tight rope every single day.

It was not fair for Hermione.

“I’ll be thinking of you.” Serena said, at least, taking her leave before she could be stopped.

The Malfoy Manor was quiet when she arrived there. Narcissus was waiting for her at the foyer.

“Did the Dark Lord summon you?” asked he.

“I’m afraid so.”

“He asked Lucius and I some questions. He said Pettigrew had disappeared. You… Didn’t have anything to do with it, did you?” Serena’s silence was enough of a reply. “We lied.”

“You _what_?”

“I’m not a fool, Serena. If the Dark Lord succeeds, you think I’m not aware that we are next? At least you have been doing something about it.”

“Can I ask you one last favor?”

“Anything, dear.”

“If I… If I die… Please let Hermione Granger know.” Serena said. “You can find her at Hogwarts.”

Narcissus nodded, and Serena proceeded to go to the salon the Dark Lord used to torture his victims — she was going to be the next, before dying a painful death.

What was her surprise to see she wouldn’t be the only one. Potter writhed on the floor, stomach down, breaking a cold sweat, before the Dark Lord’s chair.

“Before we begin…” said the Dark Lord, crossing his legs. “I shall congratulate you for pulling the wool on my eyes for as long as you did. I’m afraid your little trick is over.”

“What gave me away?”

The Dark Lord flipped Potter over with a foot.

“Dumbledore is growing senile. His Memory Charms aren’t as strong as they used to be, I’m afraid. Besides, he left something behind with this one. The rest I pried out by force. And I will do the same to you, now.”

Serena knew her Occlumency would break down, eventually. At the very least… She knew nothing of vital importance, except maybe a part of Hermione’s history. She didn’t get to the end of the notebook, and neither there had been time to ask.

“You may attempt to do so.” Serena said, flatly. “You won’t find anything of importance.”

“Crucio!”

Even though she had gotten a taste of the curse before, nothing could prepare her to feel it again; it was all types of pain at once. She burned from the inside out, as she felt her bones being crushed, and her skin being sliced open.

She tried to endure it for as long as she could. Somewhere along the line — minutes or hours, she had no idea which  —, she lost sense of her surroundings, of everything. She couldn’t even remember who she was.

And it was then that her Occlumency failed. She laid on the floor, helpless, as the Dark Lord broke through her walls and scrambled around in her memories, all of them.

“You are weak, and a fool.” he said to Serena.

“I’ve managed to spy on you.” she replied.

Her nerves still burned. She wanted to stand up, or move, and she couldn’t do anything at all.

“And you failed. You should still count yourself lucky, regardless. I still need you alive.”

“What for?”

“I find myself in need of getting ahold of the time traveler girl. It seems to me she’ll come, if you call.”


	22. Chapter Twenty-One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, peeps! Sorry I've been MIA for a while. I had a shit ton of exams, and also, I still needed to plan out the final chapters (you already know the horcrux hunt is happening lol). This chapter also has not been edited because I just wanted to update as quickly as possible. I hope it's not too too bad!

Dumbledore already had a couple of visitors when Hermione arrived. Sirius and Remus were standing before the Headmaster, looking quite disgruntled and desperate.

“What… What happened?” Hermione asked, already presuming something _had_ happened.

“Prongs disappeared! That’s what happened!” Sirius yelled.

His anger was not directed at Hermione in particular, so she stepped closer. Dumbledore was resting his forehead against his fingertips, eyes closed, as if in deep meditation.

“What? How?”

“I don’t know! Moony talked to him last.”

“I saw him going somewhere.” Remus said, white as a sheet of paper. “He said he’d be back in a bit. We only fully woke up several hours later. He was nowhere to be seen, and the place he was hiding at was empty. Dumbledore told us Lily and Harry are safe.”

She didn’t need much to figure out James’ disappearance and Serena’s summoning were connected. How, though? She had to discuss with Dumbledore, however doing that in front of Remus and Sirius would undermine the spell.

“I’m sorry for that.” Hermione said, and she truly felt sorry for it. “But I need to speak privately to Dumbledore.”

“I’m not leaving until we find a way of getting James back!” Sirius snarled.

“We will get him back, don’t worry. But I need to talk to Dumbledore before we do anything.”

“ _We_? Who’s _we_?”

“I’m a member of the Order of the Phoenix, like the two of you and him. If there’s anything I can do to help, I’ll gladly do it. Just because you wouldn’t move an inch for me, doesn’t mean the reciprocal is true.”

“Let Hermione and I discuss what she has to say. I assume it must be relevant.” Dumbledore said, finally.

“Then why can’t we stay?” Remus questioned.

“The Order’s eggs can’t stay all in one basket. Let alone a basket with secret plans of their own.”

The two Marauders shut up. They had screwed up, hard, and they knew it, so they left without saying anything else. Once they were out, Hermione blurted:

“Serena has been summoned. Now that I know James is missing, I assume there is a connection between the two of them. She fears she is in trouble.”

Dumbledore opened his eyes and sat up straighter. He looked quite defeated, actually. Hermione didn’t like seeing him that way, not one bit.

“I’m afraid that she is. We might have lost our only spy tonight, and there is only myself to blame.”

“What? Why?”

“I have failed her request to completely wipe out James’ memories. I thought…” Dumbledore’s voice trailed off. “I thought it would be only polite to let him at least remember that his wife left him. Unfortunately, that left behind evidence of memory tampering. If James was captured by Voldemort and Serena was summoned, I can only imagine she is, indeed, in trouble.”

“ _What_?” Hermione exclaimed again, this time louder. “I cannot believe this! How could you put her safety in jeopardy this way?”

“It was a mistake on my part.”

Hermione drew in a very breath. Of course, Dumbledore was a human being. He could make mistakes, trust the wrong people. However… That particular one was infuriating. James couldn’t be trusted to keep himself safe, something proven time and time again.

The Dumbledore Hermione knew first had put on a cursed ring and that eventually led him to his death, before he could even find all the horcruxes. The curse would get to him, if Severus had not. At least this one was still alive. Maybe he could be of use to track any potential horcruxes, based on the information Hermione had from her other reality.

“So what now? Do we have any particular plans?”

“I’m not entirely sure on how to proceed, I must confess. I was hoping you would know.”

“I don’t.” Hermione snorted. “This didn’t happen in my world. At all. Lily and James died on October 31st. Voldemort vanished in result, since the Death Curse he cast on Harry rebound on him. He survived and returned because of his horcruxes.”

When she had gone to Dumbledore with Serena to orchestrate the Potters’ rescue, there hadn’t been much time for the three of them to discuss everything Hermione knew.

With that new information, Dumbledore perched up on his spot.

“I had my suspicions he had made horcruxes.”

“Yes, he has. I… This is a matter for later. What are we going to do about Serena? We can’t just leave her to die like that! I will… I will go over there to save her. I know where the Manor is. I have the cloak. I could do it!” Hermione mumbled to herself.

“This is too dangerous. With everything you know, the last thing you should do is get yourself caught by Voldemort.”

“I’m not going to leave Serena to die. I’ve made my decision. I have written down everything I know on a notebook. I’ll leave you with it. Everything I already know about Voldemort’s horcruxes is there. If I… If I don’t come back… Then you’ll have what you need to continue the search.”

Hermione was set on it. It was that or have Serena die, or be tortured, or worse. She couldn’t bear to do nothing, and sat idle waiting… Waiting for what?

No. She didn’t sit still when she knew Harry was in terrible danger. Why should she do that now?

“You should think carefully about what you’re planning to do.”

“I’ve made my decision.” Hermione said, and stormed out of the office to go back to her rooms.

She put on her old clothes, the ones with her when she disappeared, and stocked her pockets with everything she could possibly need to sneak in the Manor and leave with Serena in tow. As long as she was not discovered, it would be fine.

And if she was discovered, she would obliviate herself about the horcruxes.

Easy…

Her heart and breathing were still as she walked back to Dumbledore’s office to leave her notebook with him. Yes, it was risky. Yes, she might not return. And yes, she was doing it for Snape. A version of them, anyway. A version she happened to care about very much.

“You don’t have to do this. Serena knew it was risky when she got herself involved.” Dumbledore warned.

“I know.”

These were Hermione’s last words before she left to save Serena.

The Manor was quiet as usual, as Hermione sneaked on the front garden towards the front door. Good thing she managed to remember the movements Serena used to open the gates. Instead of using the front door, Hermione went around the building to try and find a window in an empty room that she could use instead.

Empty rooms were not lacking. Hermione opened one at random, after peeping inside, and then took off her cloak to climb it up as fast as she could, hoping not to be seen. The room seemed to be some sort of sitting and entertainment area.

She was one leg and one leg out when there was a loud crack, and a young elf appeared in the middle of it.

“Dobby!”

OoOoO

“I’m afraid we need to have a little chat.” Voldemort said, overlooking the balcony of the library.

Lucius tried to keep himself placid. He wasn’t fully on board about lying to the Dark Lord. He did it anyway, because he loved Narcissus and wanted to be able to be with him, someday. It seemed to have backfired.

“What about?”

“You seem to be under the impression I disapprove you of your lifestyle.”

“What lifestyle?”

The Dark Lord turned on his heels:

“Don’t pretend not to know why I called you here. It seems to me the two of you helped the traitor, and it cost me the location of the Chosen one.” He started to pace around Narcissus and Lucius. “I’ve taken the two of you as my most loyal allies. And I have been thoroughly disappointed with your actions.”

“We apologize.” said Lucius. “This never happened before, and it will never happen again.”

“Is that so?”

 The Dark Lord held Narcissus by his chin.

“ _Legilimens_!”

A couple of minutes later, he let Narcissus go. Lucius ran to support his love and keep him on his feet.

“Are you alright, my dear?”

“Yes, of course.”

“So it was the first time.” The Dark Lord said. “This will not go unpunished, however. I won’t allow it.”

“What will be your punishment?” asked Lucius.

“Narcissus will remain under my control until further notice. If you give me anymore reason to doubt your loyalty, I will be no longer responsible for his wellbeing.” The Dark Lord waved his wand: “Imperio.”

Narcissus released himself from Lucius’ grip and went to stand, vacant-eyed, beside his master.

“I am not particularly interested with who you share a bed with, Malfoy. As long as you do my bidding, I will leave you be.”

Lucius licked his dry lips and nodded.

“Of course, my Lord.”

“You may go. Don’t you ever conspire against me again.”

“Never.”


	23. Chapter Twenty-Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankfully the writer's block gave me a break! So here's a spanking new chapter for you guys :D

“INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS!”

“Dobby, for Merlin’s sake, shut your mouth!” Hermione pleaded, holding the elf by his shoulders. “Just be quiet. I’m begging you. Please, do me this favor.”

“Miss is asking Dobby… A… A favor?”

Then he started to sob loudly.

“No one asks Dobby a favor!”

“Dobby, you’re not being silent…” Hermione whispered. “Shhhh. Shhhhh. It’s okay. It’s alright.”

Now he was blowing his nose on his dirty rags, of course making that much more noise. The door of the study flung open and Lucius came to a halt when he saw Hermione crouching, holding Dobby.

She immediately jumped to her feet and aimed her wand, ready to fight for her life.

Lucius raised a brow and closed the door behind him with a soft click.

“Dobby, quit your whining already!”

That made the elf immediately shut all his noise. Hermione still had her wand up, her breath picking up its pace.

“What—”

“Shhh, don’t tell me. Let me guess. Hermione Granger, isn’t it?”

His wand was nowhere to be seen; and he didn’t seem like he wanted to use it either. He was cautious, but curious, examining her up and down.

“How… How do you know that?”

Lucius shrugged, hands clasped on his back.

“Serena’s last words to Narcissus were to look for a certain Hermione Granger of Hogwarts to let the young lady know she had been caught. I’m assuming you’re her lover, and that you want her back.”

Hermione said nothing, but her face must have given her away, because Lucius laughed.

“I’m afraid you can’t have her, my dear. You see, the Dark Lord has my lover, too. If you take Serena, the Dark Lord will pin it on me, and he’ll _die_ for it.”

“I wasn’t expecting that you’d hand me her over nicely anyway.” Hermione replied, trying to go through her options.

Lucius had an horcrux. Maybe she could take the opportunity, get Serena and the horcrux, if she managed to knock him down without alerting everyone else in the house to her presence.

“Why not work out things diplomatically? I think we both want the same two things. You can’t get your Serena back, and I can’t get my Narcissus back, as long as the Dark Lord lives.”

Hermione started to lower her hand against her own wishes. Perhaps the Lucius Malfoy she knew back in her world would never try to work things out with a muggleborn — but this wasn’t he. A pureblood man with no desire to procreate biologically couldn’t be a good thing in Voldemort’s books.

“What do you suggest?”

“I’ll keep Serena alive, and moderately safe for you, while you do what you came to this time to do and vanquish the Dark Lord.”

“Do you know how _long_ that could take?” Hermione retorted.  

“This war didn’t start on a whim. It won’t end on a whim. I will keep my end of the bargain for however long I can manage.” Lucius said, and beneath his cold tone, there was a concealed beg.

He wanted Narcissus back more than anything. More than he wanted his pureblood supremacy.

Hermione had already been caught, and she had no other option. Besides…

“There is something you can do to make things quicker for me.”

“What would that be?” asked Lucius, curious.

“Did the Dark Lord ever gift you a notebook? Like a leatherbound notebook with nothing written in it?”

Lucius’ eyes widened.

“Do you know of the horcruxes?”

“Yes, I do know of them. I’m currently trying to find them all. I know where a few might be… Do you have it or not?”

“I do.”

“Good. Hand it over to me.”

“I can’t. Not now. The Dark Lord fears I will betray him. If he asks for the notebook and I don’t have it…”

Hermione sighed in defeat. Couldn’t Lucius hand over _anything_ to her? At least she knew where the horcrux was. In the end, it was of her best interest that Lucius remained on the Dark Lord’s good graces, so he could keep it.

“Fine. Then at the very least, keep it with you. If the Dark Lord asks you for it, you _have_ to let me know. Try to find out what he’ll do to the horcrux, if you can.”

“You have my word.”

They fell into silence for a moment. It was an unlikely alliance for both of them, but they had plenty in common and a similar goal, after all.

“And let me know if you hear about another horcrux, too. Promise me. The longer it takes me to find all of them, the longer the Dark Lord will keep Narcissus with him.”

“I know this. As I said, you have my word. I will do anything within my power to give you an advantage on that matter. You must leave before he senses something is amiss.”

There was nothing else to be said. Hermione wasn’t leaving with Serena as she hoped, though she was leaving far from empty-handed… She trusted that Lucius Malfoy would see to Serena’s safety.

She wanted to ask him to convey Serena a message, but… Perhaps it would be for the best if Serena was kept in the dark about Hermione being in touch with Lucius.

“Okay.” Hermione said. “If you don’t keep your end of the deal, if you let her die… I’ll make you _pay_ for it.”

It was a genuine threat. He was the one who saw to it that Serena became a Death Eater in the first place, by buying her off in a state of vulnerability.

“Dully noted.”

“One last thing.”

“What?”

“Where is James Potter?”

“Here, as well.”

“If I were you, I would try to keep him alive, too.”

Hermione couldn’t say she cared, though she wouldn’t be fine with just letting him die, either. She picked up her cloak and left the way she came: through the window and the gardens, back to Hogwarts…

Without Serena, and with a time constraint for the horcrux hunt. No doubts that, if Hermione took too long, Voldemort would kill her, and nothing could be done to stop him for it. He couldn’t die.

Once back at Hogwarts, Hermione shot straight to the Headmaster’s office to discuss about the Gaunt ring. He was there, alongside with Remus and Sirius.

“We’re not leaving until we have an answer!” Sirius exclaimed.

Dumbledore, who knew where Hermione had gone, adjusted himself on his chair, eager to hear the news, and surprised that she even came back alive, and so quickly, at that.

“I have your answer. James is in the Malfoy Manor.”

“Then we have to get him!”

“We… We can’t. Not just yet.”

“Why?”

“We just _can’t_ , for the time being. Trust me. He’s safe. He’ll be in one piece when it’s time for us to get him.”

“And when will be that?”

“I have no clue. It will be quicker if you let me speak to Dumbledore in private.”

“You’re not going to leave me in the dark again!” Sirius exclaimed. “I’m not going to do nothing while James is trapped in that bloody Manor!”

“And what are you going to do? You proved time and time again that you’re unable to follow simple instructions, you’re cruel, insensitive, and reckless. You’ll get yourself killed, and get others down with you.” Hermione said. “You already almost have. James and Lily could have been dead, right now, do you understand this?”

That made Sirius quiet down, unable to look her in the eye due to his guilt.

“Let me help.” he whispered. “I promise… I promise it will be different this time.”

Hermione wasn’t so sure about that. With the Order almost destroyed, the only chance of her finding the horcruxes would be if Voldemort didn’t know there was someone looking for them. Whoever knew of her plan, could not get caught.

“Sirius, Remus. Please leave us be for the time being.” Dumbledore said, at last. “I will continue speaking to you after I’m done with Hermione.”

Hesitantly, the two of them left. Hermione let out a deep exhale once they were gone.

“I couldn’t get to Serena, though I confirmed the location of one horcrux. I made a deal with Lucius. He has the diary with him. He’ll keep Serena and James safe until we find the horcruxes, because Voldemort got to Narcissus.”

“Excellent. I say we should fetch the Gaunt ring tonight still. As for Remus and Sirius…”

“What?”

“I suggest we let them help.”

“They don’t—”

“They don’t need to know how, exactly, they are helping us. I see in here that we have to find a certain R.A.B. who has stolen the Slytherin locket.” Dumbledore said. “It seems to me Voldemort is unaware of the exchange, and that this wizard is responsible for it. If Sirius and Remus are to fail and get caught…”

Hermione nodded.

“Then no harm will be done. That could work.”

Without waiting for a reply, she hopped down the stairs to the hallway, and found Remus and Sirius pacing around.

“Come on up. We have something you can do to help.” she said.

“What is it?” Remus asked as they went back to the office.

“I need you to find someone for me. I… I’m sorry that I don’t have much information to give you, but I need you to find a wizard or a witch that goes by R.A.B.” Hermione said, marching back to stand before Dumbledore’s desk.

“R.A.B?” echoed Sirius, with a frown.

“That’s not much, I know. It’s possible that this person is skilled in Dark Arts.”

They wouldn’t have figured out about the horcruxes otherwise.

“I don’t think we’ll need to look very far. That person is dead.”

“How do you know?”

“That’s my little brother. Regulus Arcturus Black. Voldemort killed him.”


	24. Chapter Twenty-Three

“What do you mean, Voldemort killed your brother?” Hermione inquired.

“That slimy little git was a Death Eater.” Sirius replied. “I assume that must be why you’re looking for him. Well, no need to look any further. He is seven feet under. Or I think he is. It’s been a while since the last time he was seen and I… It’s stupid, but I just know he’s dead. I bet my mother still think he’s going to show up at the door. He won’t. He’s gone.”

She exchanged a glance with Dumbledore, trying to figure out just how could she probe further about Sirius’ brother whereabouts without giving away her objectives. It was difficult to think properly with the adrenaline pumping through her blood.

By R.A.B’s letter from her original world, he did die trying to retrieve the locket — so his disappearance was strong evidence it happened just the same in this new world. But Sirius wouldn’t know what his younger brother was up to before his death.

How much did he know his young brother at all?

“Okay… Let’s say… He had a valued possession. Something he wanted no one to find, especially not, say, his parents. Where would he hide it?”

Sirius took a small step back, his eyes open wide.

“Why do you want to know?”

“I… I can’t say. I’m sorry. Let me put it this way…” Hermione said, knowing she was getting through Sirius. “Your brother was in possession of something very important. He didn’t want it to fall in wrong hands. We need that possession.”

“You mean he had some sort of… Weapon? That doesn’t make sense! He was a Death Eater! Why would he have something we need?”

Hermione swallowed dry.

“As far as I know, your brother might have been a Death Eater… But he didn’t die one.”

It was as if the world stopped turning for a moment as the news sunk in.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll explain everything once we’re done. We have to rescue James from the Malfoy Manor, remember? We’re in a bit of a time constraint here. Back to my question: if he had a weapon, something that could incriminate him before Voldemort, where do you think he’d hide it?”

Sirius went silent for a moment, then he said under his breath:

“Kreacher.”

“The elf?!”

“You _know_ Kreacher?”

Right. Sirius and Remus still had their mind wiped off, for the most part. They didn’t know about Hermione anymore. Not that it still mattered if they did or didn’t — Voldemort had to know it already, by James’ memories, if not by Serena’s —, however it was a bit of a long story…

“It’s a long story. So your brother could have hidden something in Grimmauld Place, with Kreacher, the house elf?”

“It could be. I swear to Merlin, it was like that elf was his best friend. Kreacher would always get beatings for disobeying my parents for his sake. You said it was something not even my parents could find… Besides, as far as I know, only my mother lives there now. She’s old and crazy. She isn’t in any place to dispense beatings anymore.”

Hermione leaned against Dumbledore’s desk. She could go to Grimmauld Place by herself… Perhaps things would go smoother if she had Sirius’ help, however.

“I’m afraid I must ask you to leave Hermione and I a second time this evening.” Dumbledore spoke, finally.

Sirius was too shaken by the news his brother wasn’t as evil as he thought to protest this time around. Remus patted his arm and lead him out without a word.

“It seems we have a busy night ahead of us.” said Dumbledore. “Perhaps the best idea is for me to retrieve the Gaunt ring and you the locket, with Sirius and Remus.”

“How far have you gotten into the reading? The ring is cursed. It will kill you. I can’t let you go alone.”

“Out of us two, you are the one ought to be protected. I will keep my wits about me.” he said, firmly and finally, his blue eyes ice cold.

He wouldn’t back down on his idea. It was the best, most time-efficient idea anyway. The Hufflepuff cup was nowhere to be found, for one. There could be more horcruxes. It had been a long day for Hermione, but she wouldn’t be able to stop unless she had all the horcruxes she could get with her.

Sirius and Remus could jeopardize everything if they didn’t feel useful as well.

“Alright. But, whatever you do, don’t put that ring on your finger.” Hermione warned.

With that, she left to the hallway.

“We are off to Grimmauld Place. I hope we can find a way to get in there.”

“Wait. What?” Remus said.

“Didn’t Sirius say what we are looking for could be with Kreacher? We have to know if it’s true. If not, then the weapon is somewhere else, and we’ll need to find where it is. I have the cloak with me. If we’re careful, we can get in and get out without being noticed at all.”

Just as Hermione predicted, the small heist made both Sirius and Remus perk up.

“And this weapon will help us get James back?”

“Precisely.”

Well, she wasn’t sure how, yet. All she knew was that she needed to find the horcruxes and destroy them, so Voldemort could be left vulnerable. Mortal. If the end of the First Wizardry War taught her something, was that the Death Eaters were nothing without their leader.

“Well, what are we waiting for, then?” Remus prompted.

Sure coming to that world brought her a whole array of unlikely allies. The Malfoys. Remus and Sirius. Snape — or the next best thing.

Thinking of Serena made Hermione’s heart ache. She was alone, helpless, not even aware of how Hermione was moving heavens and oceans to get her back as soon as possible.

Hermione wished… Serena would be there to hold her hand, at least. Though, of course, Serena could contribute with way more than just moral encouragement if she were present. Her evil streak was helpful, either Hermione liked it or not.

“And where’s Snape?” asked Remus, casually, as if reading her thoughts.

“She’s not here.” replied Hermione through gritted teeth. “She’s gone, too.”

“Hold on. Voldemort caught her, too?”

“Yes, he caught both James and Serena tonight. Trust me, if there was a way, _the smallest chance_ , to get them from the Manor, I would try my very best. For now, we can’t.”

Sirius swallowed dry.

“She’s… _Really_ your girlfriend, isn’t she?”

Hermione perched up her shoulders.

“She’s not.”

But Hermione was in love, it seemed like.

Both Sirius and Remus thankfully let the subject go while the crossed the grounds beyond the apparation limits. Within a moment, they’d be standing across Grimmauld Place, 12th, hidden behind some trees and bushes.

The place looked just as Hermione remembered. Though the front looked no different from the other houses, it had an air of abandonment already. If she recalled correctly, Sirius’ mother had to be nearing her death, with only an insane elf to look after the house and herself.

Sirius seemed somber.

“This is it.” he said.

“We’ll have to wiggle underneath the cloak somehow.” Hermione said as she fished it out of her pocket.

Remus wasn’t particularly tall nor large, but Sirius sure was tall. Hermione wanted to keep some physical distance, though that much proved to be impossible as they tip toed their way to the front door.

Now, sometimes Hermione would wonder if she ever liked men at all. In times like these, she was certain she never did. Sirius was decidedly handsome, and she liked Remus as a person to some extent. Being close to them didn’t get her to be as antsy as she ever was close to Serena.

Even before she knew of Serena’s true loyalties.

Which was a bit alarming, actually…

The front door to Grimmauld Place was magically warded, of course. Hermione tried a few different things, to no avail, and Sirius stepped forward, undoing the ward in a blink of an eye.

“Didn’t change the wards ever since I was last here.” he said under his breath. “My mother sure is as stupid as she seems.”

“Careful with the troll leg.” Hermione warned, opening the door inch by inch and taking the lead inside, circumventing the troll leg while trying to keep herself under the cloak. Everyone’s ankles were on display despite their best efforts…

At least, since Walburga Black was still alive, there was no portrait to announce their presence. Not yet.

Then Kreacher came down the stairs, eyeing the open door with suspicion, to then spot the disembodied ankles.

So much for discretion.

Sirius slipped from underneath the cloak and promptly knocked Kreacher out with an Expelliarmus. The poor elf was sent flying up the stairs and landed with a loud thud on the hallway on the second floor.

“Sirius!” Hermione chided in a small voice. “You weren’t supposed to _hurt_ Kreacher!”

“He probably deserves it. Besides, he wouldn’t tell us a thing anyway.” Sirius spoke normally, looking around.

Typical pureblood. Sometimes, no matter how they distanced themselves from their family and their status as purebloods, it always peaked through. Hermione was not on the mood to have that discussion.

“Shouldn’t we be trying to keep quiet? Since, you know, your mother is here?” Remus said, uncovering himself at last.

“She should be deaf by now. When I left, she already only knew how to scream, otherwise she couldn’t hear herself.”

Indeed. Besides them, the house was quiet. Funny how the actual Walburga Black was quieter than her portrait.

“Where do you suggest we start looking, then?”

“You know, if it’s something my brother gave him, and told him not even my parents could have…” Sirius said, absent mindedly, his steps taking him to a hidden cupboard, not bigger than a small child, underneath the stairs.

All it contained was a dirty rag on the floor.

“Here?” Remus asked.

Sirius rose a brow.

“It’s where he sleeps. I assumed it would be here.”

“Let me take a look.” Hermione crouched to get inside, and her feet stepped on a loose plank on the floor. She stomped on it again. It seemed to conceal a hole on the floor.

Lifting up the plank, there it was, shiny against the dust: the Salazar Slytherin’s locket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mood: Hermione sneaking into all pureblood families' houses


	25. Chapter Twenty-Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! I am sorry that I haven't answered the comments from the previous chapter. I appreciate all of them, and I like to reply to each and every one (as you know), but I'm in a bit of a rush, and I wanted to update this chapter very much! I'll reply to you all soon!

Dumbledore had not yet returned to the castle when Hermione made it back. Though it had passed barely a day since she tried to sneak out the castle to find Pettigrew, to her the events of the previous days felt like centuries old.

She was tired, afraid. With the locket and the ring, there were no more leads to follow, either. For Serena’s sake, Hermione hoped it didn’t stay that way for much longer… But at that time, she had nothing left of herself to give.

There was very little she could do without Dumbledore’s guidance as well.

It was time to rest.

Not before tucking the locket away in the Requirement Room, and finding somewhere safer in her room to hide the Marauder’s Map and the Invisibility Cloak. Voldemort should know of their existence by then, with access to James’ memories… And Hermione would have a terrible time sneaking around to steal horcruxes without them.

OoOoO

Serena had never felt better in her life. All her worries and fears were distant, muted, as her boots stomped on Hogwarts’ grounds, her limbs pulled by magical strings.

Not even the pain — as if all her nerves were set on fire — bothered her.

Voldemort didn’t want her dead, nor seriously injured. Just hurt enough that she couldn’t attempt to fight against his control. She was aware of the Imperius curse Voldemort cast on her, yet unable to do anything about it. Possibly, this was something the Dark Lord wanted as well.

He wanted her to be aware enough to watch on the backseat.

He sent her back to Hogwarts possibly because she was still the only Death Eater who could get in and out without getting hurt, should she get caught. Amidst that fog taking over her senses, the curse took Serena to Hermione’s door.

 _No_.

Her mind fought against the shackles: she was _not_ going to hurt Hermione. The Dark Lord tightened the grip around Serena’s mind, and somehow, she suddenly knew it was not what she came to Hogwarts to do.

Albeit shaking, trying to break free, Serena opened the door to Hermione’s room, inch by inch. The ambient was submerged in darkness. Hermione slept, chest rising and falling too fast for her to be sleeping soundly.

Serena closed the door. In the shadows, she tiptoed around, opening drawers, trying to spot any magical wards.

The Dark Lord was looking for something. The cloak and the map, possibly. He wanted to take over Hogwarts, at some point. It would be one of his great victories. Owning the cloak and the map would aid him in his quest. He tortured Potter until he could get every single drop of information about these two items.

Serena wasn’t in the room — the Dark Lord wouldn’t give her such pleasure — however she could hear him screaming.

He didn’t _need_ them, though. Hence why he made Serena be quiet, but not entirely so.

Hermione shifted on her spot, mumbling something. She was about to wake up.

Serena leaned against the desk, resting her weight on her hip. As if she had been waiting there the entire time. Hermione rubbed her eyes and sat up. It didn’t take her a full second to wipe out her wand and jump out of the bed, to the opposite corner of the room, magically lighting all the candles.

“S-serena...? Did you escape?” she asked, lowering her wand but not quite. She knew the answer already.

“I’m afraid that is not the case.” Now Serena understood better why she was still aware of herself and her actions. The Dark Lord wanted _her_ to speak to Hermione, to yield better results. “I’m under the Imperius curse.”

 _He’s looking for cloak and the map_ , she wanted to say, but couldn’t bring herself to. Just because he gave her some freedom to speak, it didn’t mean she could spill out his plans.

Hermione ran around the bed to wrap her arms around Serena’s neck. Merely being touched hurt like hell, but Serena wasn’t going to say a word about it.

“Are you alright?”

“What do you think?” she sneered before she could catch herself.

“Oh. I’m sorry. Of course you aren’t.” Hermione said at a small voice, stepping away, her eyebrows creased in pain. “Why did he bring you here?”

“He wants me to let you know time is running out. He wants you. Everything you know from the future and the Chosen One.” Serena relayed the message, and then, for effect, she was forced to say: “Please. I’m not going to hold on much longer.”

Now that was a lie. She’d hold on for as long as it was necessary. She didn’t care to die, or to be in pain, if that meant Hermione was safe. She didn’t _want_ Hermione to surrender herself.

Hermione cupped her cheek.

“I’m sorry. I can’t. You’ll have to hold on. You _have to_.”

The Dark Lord was not happy with the answer, though he was not unhappy enough with it yet to just whisk Hermione away. He could do that, if not for his fear of Dumbledore, and his curse not being strong enough to keep Serena in place.

Now, he was powerful wizard. But not the only one.

Kidnapping Hermione would get Dumbledore and the Department of Mysteries after him — if he even managed to bend Serena to his will. He had to torture her for hours before the Imperius curse worked at all. There was nothing quite like the mental fortitude of someone full of spite and with little to lose.

Serena didn’t expect Hermione to surrender herself, so she was at peace with the answer. They both knew it could come to a situation wherein Serena couldn’t be saved. It was an inescapable consequence of her own actions, and she had to own up to them — Hermione knew better than trying to avert that.

“I’m not sure I will be able to.” Serena replied, though she wanted to say the opposite.

Hermione was buying the little act, and it pained her so.

“I’m sorry. There’s… There’s nothing I’m able to do right now.”

Serena didn’t want to keep talking, otherwise the Dark Lord might just make Hermione do his bidding by having Serena play the damsel in distress.

So she kissed Hermione, and made the kiss as deep and passionate as she could.

“I love you.”

That much was true, except Serena didn’t want to say it right then. It wasn’t the right place or time. The Dark Lord didn’t care much for playing fair…

“I love you, too.” Replied Hermione in a whisper, lips resting against Serena’s face.

Serena knew right then she’d survive, somehow. To see Hermione again, without the curse, the war or the Dark Lord. She’d make him pay, too, if she was whole enough to hold her own wand.

Not wanting to have his curse undone, he made Serena bid her goodbyes and leave.

Not to outside of the castle, though… Her legs were taking her elsewhere, a place inside Hogwarts she never been before.

OoOoO

As soon as Serena left, Hermione ran to the place she hid the map and the cloak to see if they were there. Voldemort made Serena look around before waking Hermione up — she could see it in the way things were out of place, if only slightly.

But Hermione had moved the location. Serena had no memories about it that Voldemort could forcefully take.

She activated the map to see if Dumbledore was in the castle. As expected, he wasn’t. Voldemort wouldn’t try such bold move if the Headmaster was present. The Headmaster didn’t have very clear instructions on the location of the ring, because all Harry had to relay was vague, so it could take him a while. The Dumbledore Hermione knew took years to gather all that information…

The unexpected thing was Serena, heading to the Requirement Room. She walked fast, and her legs were long; Hermione managed to catch up anyway, wondering if Voldemort knew it was possibility Serena was being followed, or if he was arrogant enough to not consider the idea.

Although it seemed unlike him to be foolish, Hermione knew better by then. For one, there were less notable objects he could pick to make his horcruxes. He could make it a pebble and throw it into the ocean…. But he didn’t.

He could have sent a Death Eater to kill Harry, that fateful night.

But he didn’t.

Serena walked into the Room of Hidden Things, once the Requirement Room’s door materialized. Hermione soon followed her steps, walking into familiar corridors of hidden, missing and forgotten items. 

Until Serena stopped in front of an orc bust, with a tiara on its head. She did nothing but to look at the diadem for a moment. Then she took it out of the bust, touching the artifact with her bare hands, and tossed it into a nearby drawer.

Hermione stayed back when Serena turned on her heels to leave, with no idea what the hell the tiara was, beyond it being an horcrux. No wards, no curses, no anything.

Serena did leave the castle that time around as Hermione saw on the map. Perhaps Voldemort sent her under the curse to blackmail Hermione _and_ check in on the horcrux’s safety. He didn’t seem to know his horcruxes were being hunted.

Not yet, at least.

He knew of the possibility of a full-fledged war, with two important members of the Order of the Phoenix kidnapped, the Chosen One _and_ a time traveler running loose, outside of his control. It could be that he wanted to make sure dying in battle was not an option.

One thing was certain, though: Serena knew too much. He would never let her walk out alive.  


	26. Chapter Twenty-Five

Hermione took note of the where the diadem was, though didn’t move it from its place. It was unclear how long the hunt would still take her. Sure, with Dumbledore and the Marauders all alive, besides Malfoy’s help, it had been easy to find all the horcruxes that far. Sheer luck could only do so much.

For one, Helga Hufflepuff’s cup location was unknown and maybe there were still horcruxes whose very existence was well concealed. Again, with Dumbledore alive, should be way easier to find them, however…

Voldemort could find convenient to kill Serena at any given moment.

There was nothing left for Hermione to do except wait for Dumbledore to come back.

Luck swayed in her direction once more, and the headmaster did come back in the morning, whole, and his hand as pale and veiny as before, no sign of the curse in the ring. She went to his office as soon as she saw him stepping inside, through the map.

“So?” she asked, impatient.

Dumbledore opened a small red velvet bag, and the ring rolled on top of his desk.

“I have learned a valuable lesson in this task.” he said.

“What is it?”

There was a smile curling up one of the corners of his mouth.

 “Be less cryptic. No magical ward protected the ring, as you’ve told me, however I have only myself to blame for taking so long to find it.”

Of course, he was speaking of the Dumbledore Hermione met _first_.

“Well, you found it! And didn’t touch it, right?”

“As per your instructions, I did not.”

His eyes, darting every other moment to the ring, betrayed his desire to wear it, even with the knowledge it would kill him.

“Something happened while you were away.” Hermione said, trying to hold his attention instead. “Serena came to Hogwarts. Under the Imperius Curse, it seems like. I… I think she came to try and convince me to surrender. But she also came to check in on a horcrux left here. A diadem.”

The ring laid, forgotten.

“A diadem…? Where?”

“The Room of Hidden Things.”

Dumbledore nodded and sat on his chair, thoughtful.

“It seems likely that Hufflepuff’s cup is an Horcrux. I’m certain this is Rowena Ravenclaw’s lost diadem. Tom always had a fascination with Hogwarts.”

“To the point of hiding an horcrux _here_.”

“Naturally.”

“So? Have any ideas of where it might be? How many other horcruxes could be out there…?”

Dumbledore said nothing for a moment.

“We need to be sure of how many. If we strike and there is still any left…”

Hermione knew. It would be all for naught. The Order barely existed anymore. If they attacked, and Voldemort survived… They’d pay. Even if not at that moment. It would be like what happened the night Harry’s parents died: he’d vanish, only to return sometime later.

Except without the advantage of him not being aware his horcruxes were being hunted. Which seemed to be Hermione’s only advantage in whatever world she found herself in.

He’d be so many times more dangerous, then…

“Then we need to make sure, and fast.” Urged Hermione. “There is no way he’s keeping Serena alive for very long, and not leaving her to die alone in that bloody Manor!”

 “I understand your urgency. For now, though, you need to rest. You’ve gone two days without proper rest. We cannot afford to be hasty.”

Hermione bit the inside of her cheek. Dumbledore would let Serena die, if that was what it took; and she should, too, if it came to that. She always knew it was a possibility, that Serena’s position was risky.

Still, she couldn’t find it in herself to be wise about it anymore.

OoOoO

Lucius played with his dinner, without having a single bite, as Narcissus ate mechanically, as if pulled by strings. Which, well, was exactly the case.

It hadn’t been long since the first and last time Lucius spoke with the Granger girl who promised, with fire in her eyes, to have a plan in motion to bring down the Dark Lord. How much longer until then?

How long until he could hold Narcissus in his arms again?

He looked at his lover and best friend, turned into a puppet, with sour regret. He should have realized things would come down to that, for him. Out of everyone else, he should have known…

Immersed in his thoughts, he almost didn’t notice Bellatrix coming into the room, up until the moment she moved a chair to seat herself.

“Bellatrix. What a pleasure.” he said, his tone vacant.

She shook her head, her lips curling in a snarl as she studied Narcissus.

“What were the two of you trying to do…?”

“It’s none of your business. If it were, the Dark Lord himself would have let you know.”

“Something to do with that queer, isn’t it? Snape?”

“ _Don’t_ …” Lucius started, then softened his tone: “Don’t call her that.”

If Serena was a queer, so was he. Irrevocably in love with another man, even if he could find pleasure in a woman’s company as well. Narcissus was the person he fell for. The person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

“If Narcissus was half a man she was…”

“ _Is_.”

“Is.” Bellatrix said, through gritted teeth. “I came here to ask you for a favor, though I am starting to think I came to the wrong person.”

Lucius cleared his throat. He was giving himself away.

“What favor? I’ll see what I can do.”

“Are you busy tomorrow morning?”

“I can make time for you, if necessary.”

“I need you to accompany me to Gringotts.”

“I wasn’t aware you needed an escort for a simple withdrawal.”

“It’s not a simple withdrawal.” Bellatrix said, lowering her tone to a whisper. “The Dark Lord paid me a visit today. Left me with a valued possession of his. Unfortunately, it’s not as discreet as the notebook he left you. It is for the best to leave it at my vault.”

The leather notebook. The horcrux.

“Not as discreet? How so?”

Bellatrix could not stop herself from bragging — letting him know she knew of the diary was, in itself, a brag. The Dark Lord went to her house and told her as much. Possibly to have someone trustworthy being aware of its existence and location.

It could be he also wanted to see the Lestrange property for himself, to change location of the headquarters for the Death Eaters.

“It’s Helga Hufflepuff’s cup. Not an item I can hide in my own home. Besides… I don’t trust Lestrange.”

Lucius shook his head. He wouldn’t ever want to be in a stuck in a marriage like Bellatrix’s, though she didn’t seem to mind. The man she truly loved, the Dark Lord, wouldn’t take a wife for himself. When he advised her to marry Lestrange — who she still called by the last name —, she took it as a mission like any other.

“If that’s case… Of course you’ll have my help. Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow. If we can leave together from my house…”

“Sure.”

With that, Bellatrix left, a smug smirk on her lips. Lucius was left with an impending sense of doom. Retrieving an horcrux from a vault wouldn’t be an easy job. Impossible, in the Order of the Phoenix’s state.

Narcissus eventually went to bed, in a separate room, which gave Lucius the opportunity to slip away without being seen. The Dark Lord being less and less present at the Manor was a blessing in disguise.

Sure that meant Lucius’ status was a trustworthy Death Eater was revoked… Except he couldn’t care less about it.

Slipping into Hogwarts, on the other hands, proved itself to be a much more delicate task. One he failed. McGonagall found him midway to Dumbledore’s office.

“Professor, I mean no harm. Take me to Dumbledore. He’ll explain.”

McGonagall flared her nostrils and glared at him, suspicious. Still, his defeat emanated from him. By the sight of his unwashed hair, dark circles around his eyes and shoulders slouched, she relented, albeit hesitantly.

“Very well. You know the way, I suppose? I will escort you.”

Under McGonagall’s watchful gaze, Lucius made his way to a place he thought he’d never see again. He had forgotten a password was necessary to enter — McGonagall catching him on the act was convenient enough.

As was Bellatrix’s penchant for bragging about how important she was to the Dark Lord.

“Headmaster. I found Lucius Malfoy wandering around our hallways. He says there is an explanation for this.” McGonagall said to Dumbledore, who lifted his eyes from an old parchment he studied.

“If there is, I’m not aware of it. Care to explain, Lucius?”

McGonagall’s eyes turned to Lucius, skeptical, though her anger was contained by Dumbledore’s presence. It wasn’t clear how much the old Transfiguration teacher knew, but the Headmaster must find her trustworthy, so Lucius nodded and cleared his throat:

“I know where another horcrux is. However, I’m afraid we’re in a time constraint.” said he over McGonagall’s soft gasp.

“An horcrux? Headmaster, is this…”

“I’m afraid it is true, Minerva. I have kept this a secret from most, however it is time for you to know. Lucius, can you tell me what this horcrux is and where it might be?”

“It’s Helga Hufflepuff’s cup. The Dark Lord gave it to Bellatrix Lestrange earlier today, and she intends to transfer it to her vault at Gringotts tomorrow morning. Naturally, I cannot personally steal it and retrieving it from one of the most well secured places in Britain besides this very castle will prove itself to be… A challenge.”

Dumbledore nodded.

“Minerva, could you please fetch Hermione from her rooms and bring her here?”

“Hermione…?”

Though McGonagall did not seem very surprised, at this point.

“Yes. She. Could you?”

“Of course, Headmaster.”

Nothing was said until she returned with Hermione in tow. Dumbledore offered Lucius a seat and some tea, both of which were refused. He couldn’t keep his legs still or put anything else in his stomach without throwing up.

From one of the most trusted Death Eaters to a traitor in, what, a day?

“Malfoy.” Said Hermione, eyes open wide. “What are you doing here? Did something happen to Serena?”

“Nothing else besides being locked up and tortured for a long time.”

Hermione took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders, then.

“Then why did you come? Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Yes, it is, but I had to come. I come to know the location of another horcrux. The Dark Lord turned Helga Hufflepuff’s cup into a horcrux and gave it to Bellatrix Lestrange. She is going to transfer it to Gringotts tomorrow morning.”

“So we have until then to steal it.” said Hermione.

“We shouldn’t be so hasty. We must consider the consequences, first.” Dumbledore intervened.

“What consequences?”

“If we get ahold of the Cup, Tom will know we are searching for his horcruxes.”

“You’re right. So we have to steal the cup _and_ save Serena and James until tomorrow morning. He’ll kill them for sure.”

Dumbledore swallowed dry. This was not what he meant.

“I’m afraid such an act will bring the war to Hogwarts. As you know, Hogwarts is a castle full of children.”

Hermione’s gaze was as steely as the Headmaster’s.

“The war will come to Hogwarts either we want it to or not. We can know when it will happen and prepare, or we can do nothing and make it that much harder on ourselves to get the cup. How will we get it from a Gringott’s _vault_? We don’t have the people, and, more importantly, we don’t have the time. Serena is going to die, soon.”

“And she knew it could come to this.” Dumbledore added. “We don’t know for certain if the cup is the last missing horcrux.”

“Well, if she’s accepted her death, that’s fine, but I haven’t! And if the cup is not the last missing horcrux… Too bad for us, I suppose. We need to get it before it ends up in a vault. We agree at least on this matter, I hope.”

“We… We could evacuate the students until the morning if necessary, Headmaster.” offered McGonagall.

Dumbledore was on the losing side in this discussion, and he realized it. And so he sighed and leaned back against his chair.

“Then I suppose we have rushed plans to make.”


	27. Chapter Twenty-Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funnily enough I am also planning on asking my crush to be my girlfriend

Surely being kept in the same room as Potter was part of her torture. At the very least, Lucius granted her the mercy of a separate bathroom.

“You were in love with Lily, weren’t you?” he asked.

Potter’s state was deplorable. Shivering, breaking cold sweats. He didn’t care to shower or to eat anything. Torture being the first consequence he ever suffered for his actions didn’t do any wonders. Serena could see in his eyes that he’d never be the same again.  

“I was. Your point is…?”

They were being kept in what seemed to be one of the Manor’s many studies. Too many rooms and too little people living in the Manor. Every other room was a study or a living room. Being put in one of them and not the basement was also another huge favor from her jailor.

The armchairs were comfortable enough to sleep, if only Serena could ever sleep with Potter so physically close all the time. It had been a long time since they were forced to be in the same room. At least Serena could distract herself with the books.

Potter blinked and swallowed dry, only to say nothing for a moment. But when he did, Serena wished he’d stay _quiet_.

“Two women can’t have sex, so what’s the point?”

“Can’t they?”

“No. How would that—”

“I’m _not_ having this conversation with you, Potter.”

There was silence, however Potter pursed his lips, not quite satisfied by the answer. If he couldn’t figure that out by himself, then… Poor Lily.

“Why did you become a Death Eater?”

Serena groaned.

“Will you please shut your mouth? I don’t want to speak to you, and none of that is your business.”

“I’m just trying to understand.” he said at a small voice.

“Oh. How rich. So understand this: I was kicked out of my home because _you_ just can’t seem to leave me alone.” Serena replied, anger rising her throat like bile. She was having none of his sudden friendly act. “I had no one. The Dark Lord knew that and took advantage of it. I was groomed and coerced into it and it’s your fault.”

She leaned back into her armchair, regretful of her outburst. That was something she never discussed with anyone, except Hermione and Dumbledore.

“My fault? How is that my fault?”

The only reason why Potter’s face remained mostly intact was that Serena couldn’t stand and walk as well as she hoped. Torture took a toll on her as well, except that, unlike Potter, she was used to suffering consequences.

Besides, it wasn’t her first time being on the receiving end of the Cruciatus Curse.

“If you hadn’t outed me to the whole school, I would have had a roof over my head for the last term of Hogwarts and I wouldn’t be vulnerable prey for the Dark Lord. I had nowhere to go and no one to help me.”

Serena hated to think of herself as a victim, or as someone weak. But, back then, it was all she truly was. She remembered begging her mother to do something, to let her stay at least during the summer.

She did spend a night sleeping on the streets, which was when Lucius found her.

Then again, even that had been calculated. The Dark Lord _wanted_ her to feel scared, hopeless. Ready to accept any help coming her way.

“I had no idea.”

That did it.

“You don’t get to be sorry, Potter.” Serena said through gritted teeth, on her way to stand up and limp however she could to slap his face. “You don’t ever get to be sorry.”

The impending slapping got interrupted by the door’s knob turning.

OoOoO

“Serena!” Hermione exclaimed, against her better judgement. She didn’t have a clue about just how much she feared for Serena’s life until she got to see the grouch of a woman again.

“ _What are you doing here_?” said Serena through gritted teeth, trying to stand but not managing to. “This is what the Dark Lord wanted! He sent me to manipulate you into coming to save me!”

Hermione snorted. The less than warm welcome let her know she was speaking to the _real_ Serena. Though not until that moment she realized Serena said “I love you”… Under the Imperius Curse.

Did she mean it?

Hermione did.

“I know that. I have kept important information from you, which I will explain whenever we are somewhere safe. For now, we should go. Can you stand?”

James cleared his throat, barely holding himself on his feet by a corner. Hermione couldn’t find it in herself to feel any sorry for him at that moment.

“And what about me?”

“You’ll come with us.”

“To where?”

“To Hogwarts. I’d take you two somewhere else if I had the time. Hogwarts will have to do.”

“I might be able to stand, but I’m not so sure if I’m able to walk.” Interjected Serena, propping herself up on the armchair.

Hermione just ran to her and passed an arm around her waist to support her weight, which was no small feat. Serena was way heavier than she looked.

But the Death Eaters’ attentions were elsewhere at the time, so it should be safe to limp towards the edges of the property and apparate. With the diary, Lucius handed James’ and Serena’s wands, which were back at Hogwarts so good thing they wouldn’t be caught sneaking out.

“You kept information from me?” asked Serena as they climbed down a staircase, step by step, with James at their heels.

“Yes. I’m sorry. I had to. I couldn’t risk You-Know-Who prying it out of your brain.” said Hermione, apologetic, only to see Serena holding back a smile.

“Good.”

James cleared his throat again.

“Will _I_ get to know what it is?”

“Maybe. Soon it won’t be a secret to anyone, anyway.”

They left through the front door. The big plan was to steal the cup from Bellatrix a little before Hermione went to the Manor, so the attentions were turned to Diagon Alley. Sure, the house elves would see it, however by then Voldemort would already know of the horcrux hunt and possibly attack Hogwarts, a ruse to sneak in and get the diadem back.

They were almost out of the front gate, when the sound of multiple apparitions broke the silence. There was a flash of green light and the Dark Mark appeared in the sky, atop of the Manor. Hermione inhaled a sharp breath, quickening her step. There was nothing to do but flee, not with only one wand between three people.

She didn’t look back. She didn’t see a second flash of green light coming towards Serena.

“Snape, duck!” said James, stepping forward, careless.

Hermione only turned when she heard the muffled thud of his lifeless body hitting the pavement.

“We don’t have time to waste.” said Serena, who found enough strength to walk on her own and pull Hermione with her, outside of the gates and behind the protection of the walls. “We have to leave. Now.”

Hermione shook her head and held Serena’s arm, apparating away to the safety of Hogwarts.

“I should have known the Death Eaters would come to the Manor!” she said. Serena leaned against a tree trunk of the Forbidden Forest and slid to the floor. The dark brown of the tree made her skin look even paler than what it usually was.

“They came after me. To kill me.”

“Because You-Know-Who sent you to check in on one of his horcruxes, that night when you came to my room.”

“Horcruxes…?”

“Yes. This is what I’ve been hiding from you. What I know of the horcruxes. In my world, my friends and I were looking for them. We’ve gotten… Pretty far, I think. Considering we didn’t have Dumbledore’s help at all. That night, when you came under the Imperius Curse, You-Know-Who made you look for the diadem. See if it was still safe.”

“How—”

“I used the Map.”

“Of course.”

Hermione felt sick to her stomach. James was dead. And all because she was thoughtless. _Of course_ the Death Eaters would come to the Manor. They’d want to kill Serena and retrieve the diary — which they believed to still be in the building.

 She rushed it and made a huge mistake, all of it to get Serena back into her arms.

And Serena might not even have meant when she said she loved Hermione.

“We should head back. You-Know-Who is coming here soon to get his horcrux back. I want to join the ambush.”

“Where’s my wand?”

“I have it, in Hogwarts. But you’re not coming. Look at your state. You have to rest. Your chambers should be safe to stay at.”

Serena scowled, clearly unsatisfied with the answer, though she said:

“I think I can walk just fine.”

Fine was a bit of a stretch. She limped hard, her entire body rocking back and forth as if she couldn’t keep her balance and was about to faint. Hermione’s instinct was to hold her and coo her, however knowing Serena, it was best to just let her struggle.

“You said he sent you to manipulate me.”

“Yes. Just so you know, I’d be tortured for however long it was necessary, if it meant you were safe. I didn’t want you to risk your neck for me, as you ended up doing anyway. He let me speak, though most of what I said was decided by him.”

They were still in the forest. Everything was so quiet Hermione couldn’t quite believe the castle would be the scenery of a battle in an hour or two. When she returned, she had to meet up with the few members of the Order and the aurors who agreed to be part of the ambush to Voldemort in the Room of Hidden Things.

This was the last peaceful moment until it’d be all over — one way or the other.

“But did you mean it?”

“What?”

“When you said you loved me?”

Serena scoffed.

“Obviously.” Hermione hadn’t anticipated the relief that washed over her. “I simply… Wouldn’t have said it at that moment. Not when it meant you could do something stupid like risking your life for mine, when I knew very well what I was getting into when I chose to turn sides. I’m disposable.”

“You’re not. Not even… Not even James thought so.”

Silence fell. Serena wasn’t ready to face the fact James died in a successful attempt to save her life.

“I meant it, too.” Hermione said, at least, at a small voice.

Serena stopped walking and took a deep breath. They were at the very edge of the Forest, by then.

“You know, that night, when my cover fell, I had plans to be formal and ask you to be my girlfriend.”

Hermione snorted a laugh.

“ _Had_? Did you change your mind?”

“I thought it’d be useless to ask if I could die at any moment.”

“So can I, as of now.”

“Good point.”

They were standing in front of each other, rather awkwardly. By then Hermione knew Serena’s smoothness and ease were calculated. Sometimes, for seconds at a time, it’d give place to her natural inability to deal with people or social situations.

And Hermione didn’t know how to act, either. She never thought she would want a girlfriend. An alternative version of someone she so dearly disliked, out of all people.

“I’d make it more special…” said Serena, returning to her usual façade, and holding out a hand for Hermione. “Unfortunately, time is a sensitive issue and I’m on the verge of unconsciousness. Will you be my girlfriend for the last couple of hours we might have left of our lives?”

Hermione placed her hand on Serena’s.

“That would be a small comfort.”

“ _Small_.” Serena echoed, sardonic, as she pulled Hermione to a kiss.

Then Hermione had to hold her when her limbs went limp.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just in the Snanger mood recently. I have another Snanger fic in progress, but my bisexual heart ached for a butch, goth girlfriend, so here we are!


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